Just a little trip
by Little Miss Defensive
Summary: Castle & Alexis are going to New Zealand for four weeks of the summer. Guess who goes along? Yep, you guessed it! Castle/Beckett.  Rated T just in case for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Castles POV

**Title:** Just a little trip

**Author:** Sister Spooky

**Summary:** Castle & Alexis are going to New Zealand for four weeks of the summer. Guess who goes along? Yep, you guessed it! Castle/Beckett

**Rating:** T

**Spoilers:** Um, nothing past Season 2 so far that I can think of.

**Authors Note:** These characters do not belong to me I just like having a play with them. ;-) I will be switching between Castle and Beckett's point of view each chapter. I think this is the kind of story you need to see things from both sides. Enjoy, and I love reviews!

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**Chapter One:** Castle's POV

..

Alexis bounds excitedly into his bedroom doing a quick twirl, her arms flung out to the side like she was his baby girl again, not his teenage daughter. He grins at her. "Excited are we?" And closes his suitcase, he'd finally finished packing.

"Am I what!" She declares and sits on the edge of his bed. Her face suddenly goes from happy, to rather serious. But all he can think as he looks at her is that he has _the_ most beautiful, perfect daughter in the world. How did he get so lucky? "I have a question Dad..." He smiles a little distractedly at her and nods for her to continue.

"Are you going to miss Detective Beckett? Four weeks is a long time... And things have changed since last summer... Haven't they?" He's taken aback at how much she knows about his friendship with Beckett, but recovers quickly.

"Sure, I'll miss her... But it's not like she's my girlfriend!" He teases and sits next to his daughter sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. "She's my friend... My co-worker... Or _whatever_-" He pauses, what the hell does he call Beckett? "-and you are my daughter Alexis I _love_ you... You have wanted to go to New Zealand for quite some time now. So I think it's about time we travel somewhere _you_ want." He grins. "Plus, we'll be so busy I won't have time to think about missing _anyone_." He knows he's just told a little white lie, he's pretty sure he won't be able to be distracted from missing Beckett, not completely anyway. He rarely spends more than one or two days apart from her in a week. He wishes he could invite her along, but doesn't know how. He hasn't even told her where he's going, just that he's away for four weeks... He can tell she's curious, but he doesn't want to tell her about travelling afar when on her salary she couldn't travel wherever or whenever she wants the way he can, he doesn't want to sound like he's bragging.

"That's true." She smiles. "I have planned _so_ many things for us to do! It's all written down, I'll show you when we're on the plane." She pauses and looks at him thoughtfully for a moment. "You should ask Beckett to come with us; I think she'd be fun to go away with." She gets up and kisses him on the forehead. "Love you Dad!" She disappears as quickly as she arrives and Castle is left alone and lost in his thoughts on Beckett. Alexis had just made asking Beckett to come on holiday with them sound so simple. _Should_ he invite her? What if she thinks he's over stepping boundaries by asking... And they're leaving tomorrow, even if she's on her break so wouldn't have to ask for leave she would still have a lots to do if she wants to go away...

Before he can over analyse things he pulls out his phone and calls her. His heart racing as the ringing reaches his ear. He tries to calm his breathing. His mum had taught him a few tricks on regulating your breathing; she'd dealt with numerous actors with stage fright in the past.

"Yes, Castle." Beckett says by way of answering her phone. He gets a fright when she speaks; so busy concentrating on breathing, he forgot he was calling her.

"Hello to you too," he says sarcastically. "How is your first day off work Beckett?"

"It's been nice..." She answers sounding a little wary. "Did you just call me to ask how my break is or do you want something?"

"I called to see how your break is." He confirms. "And to tell you where Alexis and I are going away to."

"Uh huh," she says, sounding a little less apprehensive now. "The Hamptons?"

"Well, actually this time we're going to New Zealand." He pauses, and then rushes the next words. "Alexis has always wanted to go, and we thought we'd go skiing as we're staying near a mountain and visit the hot springs in Rotorua and well we wondered if maybe you would like to come too." He takes a breath, wincing as he thinks of everything he had just blurted out. He must have sounded like a real twat.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Beckett answers slowly, obviously chewing over his words. "And thanks for inviting me, but it really would cost a lot, and it's probably good for you and Alexis to have some time together."

"It's up to you. She's actually the one who suggested inviting you." He said, chuckling as he did. He felt his heart sink though, as a part of him had really hoped she would say yes.

"Thanks for the offer Castle." She says a touch of finality in her voice. "I'm not sure it's really appropriate for us to go away together..." He hears her take in a breath. "Really though," she adds in a softer voice. "I appreciate it."

"I think friends can travel together..." He pauses, but she doesn't interrupt like he expects her to. "I do understand where you're coming from though. If you change your mind, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy your time off!" He feels stupid for asking her, but tries not to let it show in his words.

"I will," he can hear the smile in her voice, and he relaxes a little.

"Goodnight Detective," he says, and she takes in a deep breath this time.

"Goodnight Castle... Oh and I _will_ think on your offer, okay?" He grins at this; she's not giving him an outright '_n_o'! This is a good sign coming from Beckett.

"We're leaving tomorrow afternoon, so think quickly."

"I will... Goodnight," she hangs up and he slowly lowers the phone from his ear. A holiday with Beckett...? Dare he hope for so much? He knows he would get _so_ much shit from the boys at work and Lanie if they went away together and while he didn't mind... He figured Beckett might. He makes his way downstairs to start dinner, trying his best not to get his hopes up but at the same time images of Beckett in a bikini in the hot springs and laughing and throwing snow balls along with him and Alexis came to mind. It would be so nice to see her away from work, relaxed for once. He wouldn't make her uncomfortable, wouldn't dream of stepping over that line she has reluctantly drawn. All he wants is to see her happy, relaxed, and having fun for once. He doesn't think she has near enough _happy_ memories.

He moves his phone around the kitchen with him as he prepares the vegetables and boils the rice for a stir fry. Even though he'd barely taken his eyes off the phone, it still makes him jump when his phone eventually beeps from beside the neatly cut carrots, he snatches it up and feels a smile spread across his face as he realises that it's a text from _her_.

'_I will come with you guys. What time do I meet you?_' He can't help it, and like a child he fist pumps the air and a burst of laughter from across the room greets him.

"Was that a text from Detective Beckett father?" Alexis smirks as she comes to try and sneak a look at his phone.

"Is it still okay for her to come with us sweetie?" Her face lights up.

"Of course...! Now I'll have company while you're writing. Man, I _so_ can't wait. Do you need help with dinner?" The butter in the frying pan had melted so he places the vegetables in there while Alexis drains the rice. He texts Beckett back, phone in one hand and the flipper in his other. Multi-tasking is probably dangerous while he's cooking... But he doesn't want to give her a chance to back out while he finishes making dinner.

'_Great! I'll book your ticket now and pick you up at 1.00pm tomorrow._'

'_Thanks, I'll give you the money tomorrow. But... No funny business Castle.'_

'_Nope, I'll book you a separate motel room and everything. ;-)'_

'_Thanks. I look forward to getting away. See you tomorrow.'_

He can't believe it. He hadn't truly expected her to accept. He didn't know why she did really, she had a fit when he had stayed at her apartment to keep her safe not all that long ago and Lanie & the boys had arrived. She cared a lot about what other people thought, she didn't like them assuming they were sleeping together when they weren't. He didn't think it was because she was embarrassed, more that she preferred to tell them in her own words what was going on in her personal life _if_ she chose to share.

He calls the airlines and books another first class ticket; he had planned from the beginning on paying for her ticket anyway. She wasn't going to like it, but he figures it would be expensive enough on her budget paying for the motel room, meals and activities while they were over there.

He goes to bed fairly early with a book. He hopes it will distract him from thoughts of going away with his beautiful partner. He really is going to have to have a great deal of self control when they go away, he hopes like hell he won't slip up and ruin things between them...

**TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2: Becketts POV

**Chapter two:** Beckett's POV

..

She can't _believe_ she has just agreed to go away with Castle! But to be honest she's heard so much about New Zealand and she really does need a trip far away from New York, somewhere she can really relax. _But with Castle...?_ Her hands tremble as she makes a late dinner and tries to figure out what she should do to calm herself. Lanie comes to mind and she glances at the clock... 9.00pm not too late to call. She grabs her phone from the bench and settles onto the couch pulling her mink blanket around her for comfort.

"Hey girl," Lanie answered.

"Hi Lanie, do you have a moment to talk?"

"Of course,"

"I just did something a little impulsive... Now don't go telling Esposito straight away..." Beckett laughed nervously.

"Oh my god... Did you sleep with Castle?" Lanie sounds excited and Beckett rolls her eyes. She isn't surprised that Lanie jumped to that conclusion. "_Shut up Esposito!"_ Lanie's voice sounds muffled, she was probably cupping her hand over the mouth piece of the phone as she yelled at him.

"No Lanie, I've... Um..." She pauses, and then blurts out the remaining words. "Agreed to go away with him and Alexis to New Zealand..." There was a moment of silence as her words sunk in, or quite possibly Lanie was trying to decipher the rushed words.

"Oh wow sweetie that will be _so_ good for you. I'm jealous! Don't stress, Castle is a good man... If you're not ready, he's not going to push you." Beckett smiles into the phone. Lanie knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling... Sometimes it freaked her out how she did that.

"Thanks. I do really want to go away and I do enjoy his company... I just worry he's going to get the wrong idea."

"Do you have separate motel rooms?" Lanie asked.

"Yes," Beckett replied indignantly. "He said he would make sure of it before I even asked."

"Hmm,"

"Do I detect a hint of disappointment?" Beckett asks teasingly.

"Maybe a little..." Lanie admitted. "But it's a good thing you have separate rooms, if things get too much you have your own space to go to."

"Well I'll let you go; I'll keep in touch though."

"You better girl! I need to know every detail. Goodnight,"

"Goodnight,"

She hung up and decided to have a bath before going to bed, she had been at the gym earlier and her muscles felt a little tense... Or maybe it was the upcoming holiday that was making her tense she couldn't tell.

..

The morning light sneaking its way through a gap in her curtains made her eyes ache, she buried her face into her pillow and tried to clear her sleep fogged mind. Tuesday... No work... Castle... _Oh_. She lurched clumsily upright and looked at her clock, 10.00am. She had plenty of time to pack and pop over to her neighbours and ask her to collect her mail.

'_You're going away with Castle today_...' She tells herself, testing the thought out in her mind and seeing what it felt like. Her heart skips a beat and butterflies began fluttering into her belly in excitement. This morning things seem more promising than her anxious thoughts last night. She knows Castle, she trusts him. She was sure to have a good time away with the writer and his brilliant daughter, she smiles as she gets dressed, and as she does she racks her brain trying to remember where she stored her suitcase. It had been a while since she'd needed it!

She begins by pulling all her winter clothes from her wardrobe, she'd packed them up on the top shelf since being summer in New York she didn't need them. She throws them onto the bed, and pulls out random things that catch her eye. She finds herself wondering whether Castle would like the colour of this jacket, or the tightness of those jeans. She can't seem to help it; it was an automatic reaction for her to want to impress Castle. This wasn't the first time it had happened. She had found in the past few months she had begun doing this every morning before work when she knew Castle would be in. She pulled out her swim suit, and smirks. Now _this_ could be fun. She definitely isn't beyond a little teasing... She packs in a modest one piece swim suit and then digs around for a bikini. It's white and not the see through kind and it shows off the olive of her skin and makes her dark hair stand out. She grins; this is definitely going to be a fun.

..

At half past twelve, someone knocks at her door. She knows it's him. She opens it, a little surprised to see him so early, Alexis stands a little to the side looking a bit apprehensive.

"Hey Alexis," Beckett smiles at her welcomingly and Alexis gives her a big smile in return, moving closer to the door. "Come in guys. Do you want a coffee?" She gestures to the kitchen where the jug was boiling.

"Sure, sorry we're early. Someone was getting a little antsy waiting at the loft." Castle confesses following her into the kitchen. "And that someone wasn't me for once." He laughs, and Alexis joins in, looking more relaxed than she had standing outside Beckett's apartment. It must be weird for her going away with her dads work partner, even if Castle was telling the truth when he said Alexis had suggested it.

"Well I'm ready any way; I was just making myself a coffee to pass the time." She looks over her shoulder and catches Alexis' eye, the girl was settling herself into a chair. "I'm excited too." Beckett admits and begins making the coffee. "I haven't travelled so far before."

"Really...?" Alexis asks, she starts rattling off the places she had visited and Beckett saw Castle cringe. She raised her eye brows at him in question. What _was_ that look on his face? Was he worried she didn't want to hear this? She hands him his coffee and sits across from father and daughter.

"So, where are we staying?" Beckett asks them when Alexis had finished telling her about the various places she'd been.

"It's a motel in Turangi which is closer to Mt. Ruapehu than Taupo is." Alexis began. The places she was speaking of sounded _so_ foreign to Beckett and she felt the excitement rise in her again. "It's in a nice area near the river!" Alexis fishes through her handbag. "I was going to show you on the plane, but I'll show you our activity plans when we're flying, for now I'll just show you where we are staying." She hands her a page that she had obviously printed from the internet with a big picture of the motel at the top of the page and contact details written beneath it. "I chose it." Alexis says proudly.

"What a great choice." Beckett tells her. The motel looks nice, not flashy like the places Castle would normally choose. A gravel driveway led to an area to park your cars and an open ended square of motel buildings. The buildings were neatly painted white with a green trim. The gardens were neat and to the right you could see the river and a large swing bridge across it. "It's beautiful."

"I suggested a hotel, but Alexis likes simple better." Castle commented.

"I like simple too." She says and glances at the clock, out of the corner of her eye she sees Castle turn to the clock too.

"Time to go Detective Beckett," he grabs their coffee mugs; she left him washing them while she heads to her bedroom and drags her suitcase into the lounge. Castle straight away reaches for her suitcase but she rolls her eyes at him and pulls it out of reach.

"I'm alright Castle. Alexis do you mind grabbing my handbag from the kitchen?"

"Sure," Alexis brought it back with her a funny expression on her face. "What on earth do you have in here, bricks?" Beckett chuckles at Alexis' comment.

"Sorry, no. I packed a couple of books in there but they're pretty big." Alexis smiled.

"I packed books too, probably _way_ too many." Alexis slips the strap of Beckett's handbag over her shoulder. "Let's go!" She strides towards the apartment door and Castle follows, still disgruntled at not being allowed to carry her bag. Beckett turns around and takes one last look at her apartment. This is it; she's _really_ going away with Castle.


	3. Chapter 3: Castles POV

**Authors Note: **Sorry guys. I planned on having this chapter up a lot earlier, but I've been really sick... Stupid body has decided to give out on me! Thankfully the doctors have figured out what is wrong, so hopefully the next couple of chapters will be up much quicker.

Also, I fixed up the first couple of chapters. I keep changing between 1st & 3rd person. Ugh. So if anyone wants to BETA my work feel free. Even though I've gone over the chapters I've written, I'm sure to have missed things!

AND.. Finally.. So many of you have added this story to your alert, and favourites.. Please, please review! I could do with some cheering up. :) Or some help with the story too!

Without further ado...

**Chapter Three:** Castle's POV

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Well, Beckett didn't back out at the last minute, like he thought she may have. She's in her seat in the aisle across from him and Alexis is in the seat behind her. First class isn't very busy and there is plenty of space, now that he had flown in such comfort (_on numerous occasions actually)_ he couldn't go back to a normal flight. Beckett fought him on paying her ticket to begin with when they had reached the check in desk, but eventually she gave in. He imagines she will bring it up again though; she had probably been trying to save face by not arguing with him in public. But he has a feeling this one time she _may_ give in, he hopes so anyway.

She's got her feet tucked up under her at the moment and she was reading but she's fallen asleep now. Her entire face is relaxed and I'm resisting the urge to reach over and tuck the stray lock of hair hanging over her face behind her ear, I want to be able to see her face better.

"Dad, can I borrow your ipod? Mine just died." I tear my eyes away from Beckett, and turn to Alexis. She's holding onto the back of my seat and she grabs my ipod from the tray in front of me.

"Yes, you would have taken it anyway." He laughs; they both know it's true. He doesn't mind though, he hasn't used it once during their long flights.

"Thanks," she moves back to her seat and curls up in a similar fashion to Beckett. Castle leans his head back into the headrest. He's going away with his two favourite girls... Not that he would tell Beckett that... And they only have a couple more hours until they're in New Zealand. He should probably try and get some sleep... The jetlag is _not_ going to be fun.

..

"Castle," he woke to Beckett shaking his shoulder. "Seat belt on, we're descending." She looks a little pale and he wants to ask if she's okay. He notices her hands trembling as she goes back to her seat, and his brow furrows in concern. He doesn't know how to ask what's wrong without her getting defensive. She saves him from saying anything, by speaking first. "I don't like landing." She says without looking at him and she clasps her hands tightly together in her lap. He stretches across the aisle and covers her hands with one of his briefly before pulling back. She looks at him with a puzzled expression at first and he removes his hand from hers. She smiles slightly at him though before turning to peer out her window.

He gathers his belongings together, stretching against his seat belt and then shoves them into his carry-on bag. Alexis is dozing, but her seatbelt is already fastened so she must have found out they were near landing. Earlier in the trip Alexis had gone over her neatly written plan for the things they were going to do while there, websites listed with phone numbers and directions with each activity. She could be such a perfectionist at times. He smiles, his daughter is a smart kid she was really going to be something one day and he couldn't attribute all of that to his parenting, she may look up to him... But she definitely has a mind of her own. She's a lot more responsible than he had ever been.

They landed with barely a bump and Beckett relaxed in her seat. Alexis woke immediately and said what was on all their minds, "we're finally here!" He wondered how she could do that, it took him ten minutes or more to wake up properly these days. He likes seeing her happy and relaxed, like Beckett, Alexis sometimes took life and in her case school rather than work, too seriously.

"How are we getting from the airport to the motel?" Beckett asked off hand as they made their way towards the exit of the plane. He kind of liked that Beckett had trusted him to organise travel and all the bookings, without worrying he would screw up. It was nice having her rely on him for once.

"I have booked a rental car; it's going to be a bit of a drive as we had to land in Hamilton, probably two hours to Turangi." She turned to look at him over her shoulder, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Can I drive?" He frowned at this, he wasn't sure he wanted her to drive, he would rather drive... Her smile faded, and her eyes narrowed and she actually stopped walking altogether and turned her whole body to face him. He felt a little nervous, even though he really shouldn't... But he felt a little like a suspect as he stood there with her intimidating him like that.

"Yeah, okay." He conceded.

"Yeah okay, what?" She didn't move.

"You can drive!" He said in exasperation. That woman would be the death of him.

..

Waves of exhaustion were washing over him as they settled themselves into the rental car. Beckett had opted for coffee on the way out of the airport, but even with the caffeine she looked pretty tired too.

"Are you okay to drive?"

"Yeah, driving tends to wake me up a bit." She assures him.

"I forgot what jetlag feels like." Alexis commented with a sigh. Castle looked into the back seat of the car where Alexis sat. She was curled up, her travel pillow tucked around her head and neck.

"You will feel better tomorrow honey." She nodded and closed her eyes getting ready to sleep through the two hour trip to their motel. Castle turned back around just has Beckett pulled out onto the main road.

"You let me know if you need a break from driving."

"Yeah, yeah," Beckett said sounding very much like she wouldn't ask him to drive if her life depended on it.

"Hmm..." He answered. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded disapprovingly, she obviously didn't like him keeping his thoughts to himself this time. He nearly smiled, so often she wanted him to _shut up_ and this time she's actually curious as to what he had to say! This could be fun.

"Nothing," he said obscurely as he turned away from her to look out the window into the gathering darkness. It was a clear night and as they drove further from the city lights more stars became visible in the sky. As a child he would climb onto the roof of his house which was an easy task from the third storey albeit somewhat risky and just lay there looking at the stars. They have always held a kind of magic for him that nothing else could. He craned his neck to see better, and Beckett muttered something that sounded like '_Jesus Christ Castle_.' "What was that Beckett?"

"You,"

"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brow and peering at her, or as much of her as he could see in the now almost complete darkness.

"Two can play at that game." And Beckett went quiet, staring ahead as if the road was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. Well that failed spectacularly, she must have caught on. He sighed, and gave in.

"My _'hmm'_ was just because you wouldn't let me drive even if you were _dying_." She bit her lip as if thinking about what he said, and he suddenly wished it was darker and that he couldn't see her white teeth glowing in the dark because he'd always found her biting her lip very alluring. He looked away before he could think about it further.

"I think if I were dying, I'd let you drive." She told him seriously. "I mean, I wouldn't want to kill you and Alexis along with me now would I?" Castle rolled his eyes.

"I meant '_dying'_ as in a metaphor, I wasn't being literal." He blurted out before he realised she wasn't stupid, and would know that. She laughed at his slip up.

"Wow, you _must_ be tired Castle." He frowned, he had really wanted to tease her, and it ended up falling back on him, _again_... His partner was certainly smart, he glanced at her and back out the window, _and sexy._ "You should get some sleep Castle." She yawned, but obviously tried to hide it from him.

"No, I'll keep you awake." He racked his brains for something to say. "Do you want me to read to you?" He rummaged through his carry-on bag that he'd left by his feet.

"Uh, how will you do that with no light?"

"iPad," he answered simply. "Anything you want to hear m'dear?" He joked.

"Can you read to me from one of your books?" He looked up in surprise, her voice was quiet and serious, not a hint of teasing in it.

"Uh," he began, perplexed at this sudden change in Beckett. Hadn't she been teasing him moments before? "Sure... Nikki or Derek...?" He asked, recovering from his surprise.

"Derek," she answered. So he searched his laptop for where he saved his books, and began reading. She would stop him now and again to ask why he'd added something into the chapter, or a question about Derek Storm, but mostly she stayed silent and he wished he could see her face so he knew what she was thinking. When he got to the humorous bits he would change his voice, though keeping quiet so as not to wake Alexis and Beckett would laugh quietly in response.

He liked this, reading to her. He tried to ignore the feeling that somehow it felt intimate, and he had a feeling him reading to her was evoking some kind of emotion in her and it wasn't until he heard a sharp intake of breath that he realised it wasn't a _good_ emotion she was feeling.

"Beckett?" He inquired, trying to see her face. "Pull over."

"Why did you stop?" She asked, glancing at him and back at the road, turning at the road sign for Taupo. "We still have another forty five minutes or so until Turangi."

"Are you crying?" He asked abruptly.

"No Castle." He answered softly, an emotion he couldn't place in her voice. "I like it, please keep reading." Well now he didn't know what the hell to do, he didn't want to upset her further, he knew she was lying, even if she wasn't crying she was in pain somehow, he knew it.

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on with you?" He tried to keep his voice down for Alexis' sake but the '_hell_' came out louder than he expected and Beckett visibly flinched. He couldn't help it, how was his book upsetting her? It felt like an insult that she was getting upset, and he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. He shouldn't be angry with her, but he didn't like feeling like he'd upset her in anyway.

"Castle I'm not sad. Okay? I'm happy." She turned and he saw her teeth flash into a smile. "I _really_ like you reading to me, okay?" She sighed when he didn't answer. "You haven't upset me Castle. I just tend to get a little reminiscent of the time when I first started reading your books." She was really confusing him now, how would that make her so emotional? He frowned, but let her continue. "It brings about a lot of emotion for me, and that is all I am happy to share for now." Her voice became stronger at her next words, back to her normal bossy self. "Now keep on reading! You know I can _force_ you to, right...? I may not have my gun with me, but I have other tricks up my sleeve."

He couldn't read for a moment, because the other tricks up her sleeve sent his mind in a swirl of very inappropriate images of Beckett forcing him to do something that wasn't reading. He swallowed noisily, but began reading again. They settled back into the routine of him reading, her questioning him now and again for the rest of the car ride, and Alexis stayed sound asleep in the back.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4: Becketts POV

**Authors Note: **Sorry, slightly shorter chapter here.

..

**Chapter Four:** Beckett's POV.

..

Beckett collapsed onto her motel bed fully clothed. The trip here had been exhausting, and some how she had managed to get into an emotional state in front of Castle. She had never been more thankful for the darkness, and her acting skills. She was pretty sure he wasn't going to let it go, but she wouldn't let this ruin their holiday. It was one mishap, and she wouldn't let it happen again. Images of her mom fluttered before her eyes, and she closed her eyes. _Not now._ She hated thinking of her mom sometimes, and she felt guilty for feeling this. But sometimes she just wanted to be _normal_, to just forget for a day or two and be able to move on. She slowly rose from the bed, and rummaged through her carry-on for her toiletries. A shower and then sleep... She would feel better in the morning.

She hummed as she let the hot water of the shower dispel some of the sombre thoughts from her mind. To be honest Castle reading to her may have brought on memories of her mom, but at the same time the strongest emotion while he read to her was pure bliss. She had dreamed of having Derek Storm brought to life by Castle's voice before she had even met him. Back when she was in the academy every spare moment she got she could be found curled up with his novels. Sometimes when she couldn't move for more than a day from the spot she was in, because it made her ache both emotionally and physically at the thought of making it through another day... She would pull out one of his books and find strength.

Every day she worked hard to be the best at whatever she was doing. She had been top of her class when graduation came along, and once she'd become a rookie her first thought was 'how do I get to my mother's files?' It wasn't long before she found them, and she made the time every evening before she left for home to delve into her mom's files. But she only ever came up empty handed. She knew even back then that one day things would click into place she _had_ to know what happened to her mom, get the guy who did it to carry on with her life.

She wouldn't know as much as she did now about her mother's case if it weren't for Castle. She often wondered at the strange workings of the world. He had unwittingly helped her through the trauma of her mom's death, and getting lost in her case... And now he was in her life, and had helped her more than anyone else. She smiled. Castle really was a good man, no matter how much shit she gave him. She felt lucky to have such a good friend. She wrapped her towel around her and quickly changed into boxers and a t shirt. It may have been chilly outside, but the rooms were heated well and she climbed under the covers of her bed, and cuddled into the soft pillows revelling in the feel of being in a bed and not in an airplane seat or car seat for the first time in days!

..

She woke with a start, it took her a couple of minutes to realise someone had knocked on the door. With a sleepy groan she rolled over and covered her head with the pillow. Maybe if she couldn't hear them they would go away. She got a whiff of an unfamiliar scent from the pillow, and suddenly remembered she wasn't at home. She glanced at the clock, _lunch time_. Jesus, she'd slept for over twelve hours! She stumbled to the door and quickly smoothed her hair down and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before opening the door.

"Good morning Detective!" It was Alexis dressed in skinny jeans, fur lined boots and a black jacket with fur around the edge of the hood, her hair was caught up in a pony tail and her blue eyes sparkled in the cold air.

"Good morning," Beckett's voice was hoarse, and she cleared her throat. "Sorry I didn't realise what time it was." Alexis laughed.

"I only just woke dad up too; you guys were both out to it! I've been knocking for like five minutes. Dad took even longer to get to the door than you." She chuckled. "I thought its best you get up, or neither of you will sleep tonight."

"Thanks, you're right." Beckett smiled. "I had better go get dressed." She gestured to her lack of clothing.

"Oh... Sorry! You must be freezing standing there talking to me. We're going out to find somewhere for lunch, so I'll see you at the car?"

"Sure, I won't be long." She started closing her door, but caught sight of Castle heading their way. She waved and retreated the rest of the way into her room quickly and shut the door. She certainly didn't want Castle to see her when she looked such a mess.

..

"Wow, this place is stunning!" Alexis commented as they took a seat at one of the outside tables of the restaurant. The outside area was on a platform kind of like a boating dock and over the barrier you could see the river, it was so clear you could see the riverbed distinctly, and even a trout swimming almost looking as though it was at a standstill under the willows of the opposite bank.

"It really is," Beckett agreed, and picked up her menu. There was a huge list, and making a choice was difficult, but eventually she decided on the French toast with a coffee. Alexis decided on hash browns and eggs, and Castle chose bacon and eggs.

"I was thinking we could go to the Tongariro National Trout Centre today. Alexis discussed it this morning and figured we would make the most of the beautiful day." Castle said, reaching over to the empty table next to them and picking up the newspaper. Beckett looked up at the clear blue sky, there was a winter chill to the air but it was still, not a breath of wind and she thought a walk sounded wonderful.

"Absolutely," her coffee arrived and she took a sip, there is nothing better than the first coffee of the day. Alexis rummaged through her handbag and pulled out a brochure, sliding it across the table to Beckett sitting opposite her.

"Look how beautiful it is," Alexis pointed to the picture on the front, underneath it boasted a bush walk with beautiful scenery. Beckett agreed with her, smiling at the younger girl. Alexis had a content look on her face as she reached for her hot chocolate. "I can't wait! There is so much to do and see while we're here; I hope we get to do _everything_ on my list." Beckett tried not to feel worried about this, but while the things Alexis had planned sounded wonderful she did want some time to just sit back and relax. Castle winked at her, he seemed to be reading her mind.

"We'll have plenty of time to relax too. I was thinking of heading to the Tokaanu hot pools tonight." She thought about what Castle would think of her swimsuit, and wondered whether she should tease him this early on in the trip, or wear her more modest one piece, she pressed her lips together as she considered her options, and tried to hide the smile spreading across her face. Then her thoughts shifted to Castle... She hadn't seen him shirtless before, and a little thrum of excitement ran through her veins. She was pretty sure she would like what she saw. She was allowed to look after all, and fantasise, that wouldn't hurt their partnership...


	5. Chapter 5: Castles POV

**Authors Note: **Thank you all for your kind reviews. :) I really love getting feedback! And thanks SO much **Odakota Rose **for going over this chapter. (And the others too!) *hugglesquish* You're the best!

**..**

**Chapter 5**: Castle's POV.

..

He stared in awe around him. The pictures on the brochure Alexis had showed them at lunch didn't do it justice. A pebbled path leading through native bush began their walk. The first huge native tree they came across had a plaque that read '_Kauri, giants of the forest_,' and the three of them stopped without any verbal decision. He didn't think there was anyone who could _not_ stop when they saw a tree as huge as the one in front of them. It was a magnificent tree, when they looked up they had to squint to the see the top of it, and the trunk was far wider than the car they had been driving in. Alexis grazed her hand against the bark of the trunk in wonder, and turned to look at him in amazement.

"Wow, that is one beautiful tree! I never thought I was really interested in Horticulture when we studied it in science... But if the class had seen trees like this, maybe _everyone_ would have been more focused!" Alexis told them, and began walking to the next tree. He turned to look at Beckett who had a small smile on her face, he touched her shoulder to let her know they were moving on and she looked at him in surprise, she had been so distracted by the beauty around them she hadn't even noticed him approaching her.

"It's stunning isn't it, Rick. I've never seen anything so beautiful..." She waved her hand towards the tree they had first been looking at and the bush beyond which had undergrowth pretty in itself, little ferns and vines slung between trees, and so many things he couldn't even describe. Her eyes found his, they were wide with awe and he found himself smiling. He couldn't help thinking '_she just called me Rick,'_ since to be honest, he hadn't heard her say that very often over the years.

"Dad, dad! Look at this!" Alexis called in a stage whisper, excitement tinged her words and he heard Beckett's footsteps as she followed him over to his daughter. "Quick," she insisted, waving them over, encouraging them to walk faster.

"What is it?" Castle asked quietly, peering in the direction his daughter was now pointing.

"A _fantail._" Both Castle and Beckett had seen the adorable birds in the brochure that morning. At first he couldn't see the bird, Alexis was getting impatient, but the entire time the huge smile on her face didn't flicker.

"I see it!" Beckett exclaimed, moving closer to him and pointing as well. "See that fallen punga log?" His brow furrowed and he looked at her, punga log? What on earth?

"It's the brown log on the ground, Dad." Alexis laughed.

"Oh..." He looked at it, and a moment later a few chirps erupted seemingly from the log, although he doubted they would be inside it, it didn't look hollow. Two fantails flitted into sight, and perched on the small ferns growing out of the log. He smiled too, they really were cute.

"If you stand still, I hear they come really close." Alexis whispered. So Castle stayed as still as he could, checking out of the corner of his eye to see if Beckett was following suit. She was, her eyes were focused intensely on the fantails. He really enjoyed seeing the excitement on her face, and felt his heart skip a beat. There was no one he would rather be there with. He was so lost in his thoughts on Beckett that when the dark blur came at his face, he ducked thinking he was about to be hit in the face. He straightened, and the girls began laughing hysterically. He looked at them both, his blue eyed, red haired daughter was pink in the face, doubled over with tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh dad, that was hilarious! It was _just_ a fantail!"

"Castle..." Beckett couldn't control her laughter long enough to even form a sentence. "Just... so funny." She finally blurted out. He ran his hand through his hair, normally he wouldn't be too impressed with being laughed at, but seeing them both so joyful made him relax, he wasn't going to ruin the moment by getting grumpy. How was he to know it was a fantail? He thought he was going to get hit!

"You should have seen your face." Alexis finally got control of her giggles, and they began walking along the path again. Beckett came to walk next to him, every now and again making snorting noises and seemingly trying not to start laughing again.

"Seriously Castle, if I had a camera... It looked like someone had just shot at you!" Okay, he was getting sick of this now! He was about to comment on their teasing, but a large building came into view, and Alexis sped up – obviously excited to see what was next. He turned to see if Beckett was following, she was reading a sign on another tree so he followed Alexis into the building. The moment he got inside, a great idea popped into his mind.

"Lex," he grabbed her arm before she could walk any further, and pulled her against the wall with him. "Beckett will be here any minute..." He smirked, and Alexis smirked back. She knew what her dad had in mind, and she was up for it! The heavy wooden door creaked open, and father and daughter waited patiently in the dim light of the building. They waited until she was a few steps away, and craning her head around trying to find them... And then they leapt out simultanuously yelling '_Boo!'_ The detective jumped, and spun around to see who was yelling at her, her eyes were wide with fright to begin with and he began feeling guilty, but her whole face softened and she started laughing.

"I should have guessed you two were going to do that." She punched him playfully on the arm. He tried not to think about her pretty little hands touching him, and decided to distract himself by looking around the room properly.

Large concrete ponds raised off the ground to hip level sat in rows on either side of them. He moved to the first one and peered in, fifty or so small fish were swimming in the water, causing small waves on the top of the water.

"Hey!" He called, the girls had been talking, their voices muffled from where he stood as the pump pushing the water around the pond/tanks ('_whatever you want to call them'_ he decided) was so loud. They looked over at him, and approached the pond. He leaned in and put his finger in the water, but as his finger reached the cool water a hand pulled him back. He turned to complain, but it was Beckett frowning at him, her hand still on his arm, not Alexis as he thought.

"Castle, don't touch." She removed her hand from his arm, and he was not sure if it was his imagination but it felt like she dragged her fingers across his arm more than necessary as she did this. She used the same hand that had been on his arm to point at a sign at the end of the pond. '_Do not put your hands in the water.'_

"Oh," he says, not able to think of anything more intelligent to say at the moment. How did she manage to make him so speechless, even with the slightest touch? Sometimes he managed to control his thoughts – like when they were on a case. But being away on holiday with her was definitely putting him in a state of hyper-awareness of every little thing she was doing. He moved around her and began heading to another of the ponds, Alexis was already at the other end looking into a large glass tank. At the pond across from the one they had first been looking in, he placed his hands on the edge, and risked a look over at her. Had she noticed his reaction to her? She was leaning her hip against the pond, smiling at something on her phone... He breathed a sigh of relief.

..

Alexis was sitting on the stone edge of one of the huge outdoor pools, filled with much larger trout than the ones they had seen in the smaller ponds. She was talking with a girl of a similar age to her, and Castle looked around for Beckett. He finally caught sight of her a little way down the large pool, leaning over the edge, intently looking at something in the water. As quietly as he could he snuck up behind her. Without a second thought he grabbed her around the waist and pretended to push her into the pool, only to pull her back just as quickly. Beckett spun towards him, her hand raised, and he backed away his hands in the air in surrender.

"Sorry! Don't shoot." Beckett rolled her eyes at him, and he tilted his head to the side. Her hair hung loose, the winter sunlight glinted off the lighter streaks in her hair and her eyes looked greener than the usual hazel-brown they normally were. He tried not to let his eyes move down, but of their own accord they fell to the black cardigan she wore... The green top she had on underneath that hugged her figure nicely. Her jacket lay discarded on the ground next to her. He had his own jacket tucked into the backpack Alexis had thankfully insisted on bringing.

"You shouldn't do that, you're lucky I wasn't armed." She joked and turned back to the pool, returning her gaze to whatever it was she had been looking at. "The rainbow trout sparkle in the sunlight, see," she said over her shoulder, and gestured for him to stand next to her. He smirked when she turned away; she didn't say he couldn't stand close to her... That didn't count as 'funny business' did it? He moved in beside her, his arm brushing hers and he felt her tense up next to him. It was _her_ turn to feel how he did back in the troutery.

"How do you know which is which?" He asked, moving a little further from her so she would relax again, but she moved back to his side, and pointed at a fish close to the edge.

"See the pinkish stripe down its side," he nodded, the pink glinted in the sunlight as the fish swam close to the surface of the water. He felt a little confused at why she had frozen when he had moved close to her, but when she moved close to him she did it without a flinch. He caught a smirk on her face as she turned away from him again. He wanted to comment, but held his tongue; he didn't want to scare her off.

"Shall we keep going, we'll be at the cafe in five minutes according to Alexis' brochure, and I could do with a coffee." She retrieved her jacket from the ground, and hung it over one arm. He took that as a yes to the cafe.

"Alexis," he called for his daughter, she looked over and he gestured towards the path leading away from the trout pond to show they were moving on. Alexis gave him the thumbs up and looked back at the other girl. He waited patiently as Alexis and the girl walked over to them.

"This is Isabelle," Alexis said with a smile. "Is it okay for her to continue the walk with us?" He smiled, and agreed to the extra person joining them. Beckett smiled at the girl too.

"I'm Kate," she held out her hand, and after a brief look of confusion on the young girls face she reached out and shook it. Castle guessed it was unusual for adults to shake hands for a greeting in a young person's world. "And this is Rick," he grinned, she called him _Rick_ again!

"We're heading to the cafe for a coffee; you girls want a hot drink?"

"I want an iced tea dad," Alexis told him, and the other girl shyly admitted to wanting a hot chocolate. She had dark hair as long as Alexis, and dark brown eyes and a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks and nose.

"Sure thing honey," he patted Alexis on the head, and moved forward to walk at Beckett's side while the younger girls walked behind them chattering. Beckett surprised him again by bumping her hip into his to get his attention.

"It's nice that Alexis is making friends, huh?" He agreed, looking at her curiously. She seemed to not mind being the one to close the distance between them, but she seemed to get a little flustered and nervous when he tried the same thing. He decided it was best for the rest of the trip if he let _her_ make the first moves, to let her crisscross the line she had so delicately drawn back in New York.

..

After their coffees, and the girls' drinks they parted ways with Alexis' new friend. It was evening by then, and they had to find somewhere for dinner. They bundled themselves into the car and turned the heaters on, with the sun disappearing it was getting much colder. Castle played around with his iphone trying to find a place for dinner on the internet.

"Isabelle says the horse trekking in the valley is really good," Alexis told Beckett leaning forward into the front seat.

"I haven't been on a horse since I was a kid." Beckett laughed. "I suppose if we get time we could give it a try. Was it on your list?"

"Well horse trekking was, but not the one in the valley. I found one in Rotorua we could do, but it'd be easier to go on a trek closer to the motel."

"I guess I'll give it a try, I hope I don't fall off!" Alexis laughed this time.

"I'm sure you won't. Actually if anyone does it will be dad!" He felt the girls' eyes on him, and he looked up from his iphone.

"What?" He asked looking from one to the other, he hadn't caught the end of what Alexis had said, and now he wished he had.

"Nothing," Beckett and Alexis answered simultaneously.

"You guys are mean." Beckett rolled her eyes at him, and he sighed. He would have to remember to pay more attention to what they were saying from now on! "Malaysian for dinner...?" He asked to change the topic.

They agreed, and after only a few wrong turns found the right place. The smell of cooking food wafted out through the open front door and his stomach grumbled in anticipation. His mind had often wandered to thoughts of going to the hot pools that night, and with it already being dinner time he was getting closer to seeing Beckett in her swimsuit. He tried his best not to get too excited, really he could only look and not touch, and he was going to have to show a great degree of self control to stick to that tonight.

**TBC.**

**..**

Haha, long chapter much? I'll update sometime either over the weekend or the beginning of next week so you know how it goes at the pools. ;-)**  
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	6. Chapter 6: Becketts POV

**Chapter 6: **Beckett's POV.

..

Nerves made her jittery as she began unpacking her bag. They had an enjoyable dinner, and they were all back at their rooms getting ready to go to the hot pools. She decided to use the time to unpack her things as she was getting tired of rummaging through her bag to find her clothes. The little drawers looked empty as she packed the few clothes she had brought along into them. She left her swimsuits to the side, unsure which she wanted to wear that night. She was feeling a bit self conscious about wearing so little in front of Castle, and didn't think she was ready to be daring enough to wear her bikini.

She changed into her full piece swimsuit in the bathroom, and checked her reflection in the full length mirror beside the shower. She frowned, and wished she had fuller hips, she looked so... Boring. Sighing, she reached for a hair tie and pulled her hair into a pony tail. Just as she finished tying it, there was a knock at the door. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself and rushed to the door, Alexis stood outside looking dejected.

"Can I come in?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, of course." Beckett opened the door wider and let her in. "What's wrong?"

"I have my _period._" Alexis complained, and flopped onto Beckett's bed.

"Oh, not cool." Beckett sat next to her, and placed a hand on the girls shoulder.

"I don't want to go to the pools. I feel sick, and sore."

"I have ibuprofen, do you want some?" She asked, getting up to find the girl some painkillers.

"Yes please!" Alexis sat up, groaning as she did and clutching her tummy. "This is such bad timing, I think I still won't go to the pools tonight even if the painkillers work. I'm sure we'll go plenty more times while we're here."

"Yeah, we probably will." Beckett smiled and handed the girl a sheet of ibuprofen and bottle of water.

"What does your swimsuit look like?" Alexis asked, and swallowed the pills. Beckett unwrapped the towel and showed her.

"That's pretty! I brought my bikini, dad doesn't like me wearing bikinis though, he says he will have to beat off the boys." Alexis rolled her eyes.

"I have one too, but I wasn't sure if..." She trailed off. She couldn't tell Castle's daughter why she had brought her bikini! "Nevermind," she laughed nervously. Alexis smirked knowingly, and then rolled her eyes again.

"He would love to see you in a bikini Kate, I'm not an _idiot_. Remember?" Beckett avoided her eyes, and looked over Alexis' shoulder at the picture of a sunflower hanging over the top of her bed.

"Oh, um, thanks." She answered, feeling awkward.

"I better go and tell him I'm not going. Thanks for the painkillers." Alexis waved as she left, and Beckett stared after her, still in shock. That girl was amazing! She thought Alexis would have been very uncomfortable talking about her dad like that, but she seemed to just take everything in her stride. Maybe she should listen to her, and wear the bikini.

..

She settled herself into the passenger seat of the rental car, after fastenening her seat belt she looked up, feeling Castle's eyes burning into her.

"What?" She asked, raising an eye brow in question.

"Have you got your swimsuit on?" She looked down at her skinny jeans, and back up at him again with a smirk.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondered." He answered, and started the car. She sighed loudly, and peered out the window into the dark. Tokaanu hot pools wasn't far from the motel according to the map, she tried not to think about the bikini she wore underneath, or what Castle's reaction might be. She bit her lip to keep from smiling. She couldn't help it though, she still felt a little nervous. She didn't think that he would _not_ like what he saw... She was just worried what his reaction might be. If he couldn't keep his hands to himself, she didn't think she could stop him. She didn't have _that_ much willpower, because as much as she tried to keep that wall between them, it was not an easy task. She was so attracted to him it just wasn't funny.

Before long they arrived at the pools, she got out of the car and found as she shut the door her hands were trembling, she slung the bag containing her towel and underwear over her shoulder and buried her hands deep into her long coat pockets. There was a definite chill to the air, and even with her scarf on she felt the cold seeping into her bones, and she clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

"Wow, it's _really_ cold tonight." Castle commented while walking next to her, his arm brushing hers now and again. They came to a bridge with lights along the edge that lit the shallow stream running beneath them. Steam rose from the water as if the water was hot, and she stopped to look at the strange occurence, leaning on the handrail.

"What the hell!" She blurted out. Castle who had continued walking turned around and came to where she was standing.

"That's pretty awesome." Castle said. "You could skinny dip in winter in that kind of water!" He turned to look at her, a devious smile on his face.

"Don't be getting any ideas Castle!" She told him sternly, but she turned her face from his to hide the smile that formed at his words.

"Let's get inside, it's freezing out here." He grabbed her elbow and pulled her a few feet before letting go. She stopped for a second, she wanted to grab his arm, she wanted to walk close to him and she didn't care what anyone thought. It's not like the boys were here to tease her. She quickly caught up, took a nervous breath in, and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. He tensed for a second, but relaxed as they reached the front door. He didn't turn to look at her, and she silently thanked him for not making her strange gesture too seriously. Being so intimate with him was not something she normally did.

They entered a large room, one wall was dedicated to brochures. She let go of Castle who went straight to the counter to book one of the private hot pools, and she headed to the brochure. Alexis would like some of these. She picked out the horse trekking place she had mentioned earlier in the day, and a place called Orakei Korako which looked really interesting even though it sounded very strange. Castle called her over and she tucked the pamphlets into her jacket pocket.

"We are in pool nine," he waved the keys in her face, and she snatched them out of his hand.

"Stop that," she told him. Sometimes he acted like a child! He pouted, and she rolled her eyes. Again with the child like behaviour!

"Do you think Alexis will be okay by herself at the motel room?" He asked, his face suddenly serious. They were walking down a hallway with no roof, and a light rain was beginning to fall, they were checking the numbers on the bright red doors as they walked past, and avoiding the large puddles of water on the concrete floor.

"I'm sure she will," she assured him. "She was planning on calling Ashley..." She said, but trailed off wondering how much Alexis had told him.

"Yeah, and I gave her my iPad, so she should have enough to do."

"And she brought heaps of books, it might be nice for her to have some time to herself." They reached the door, and the butterflies came back. She hadn't thought much about the whole being sort-of-half-naked in front of Castle thing since they'd left the car, but now her thoughts were back full force.

The pool was square, and fairly small. Stairs led down to it, and an open roof meant the light rain outside was falling into the water. Steam rose, and even without a roof over the pool area the room was warm. There was a partial wall close to the door they had just walked in so that they could have some privacy getting changed.

"I'll take the far side," she told him. Castle for once made no jokes, just nodded and placed his bag down on the bench on 'his' side of the wall. It was high enough so that when on the other side, she couldn't see his head. She placed her bag on the bench, and waited a few seconds to make sure he wasn't going to surprise her and come around 'her' side. When all she heard was the rustle of him going through his bag, and the gentle splashing of water in the pool, she relaxed. She began by taking off her her layers of clothing and folding them neatly onto her bench. Then she pulled out her towel and laid it next to them. She placed her shoes on the ground.

"Let me know when you're ready." She heard him say. She straightened her shoes unecessarily, and took a deep breath. This was it, she was going to do it. A sudden burst of confidence brought a smile to her face, and she let him know she was ready. She stepped out towards the pool without turning to look at him, and she placed her hand on the metal hand-rail leading down the steps into the water. She heard a noise that sounded like a gasp coming from Castle, and she turned her eyes to him and mustered up the most innocent expression she could without going too over the top. His blue eyes were on her, roving her body unashamedly. She should have known he wouldn't miss his chance at checking her out.

"Are you going to get in?" She asked him, faking a confused expression on her face. "Or are you afraid of the water?"

"No," he answered, and she wasn't sure if he'd even heard what she said. Amused, she turned back to the water. She had made him speechless! She tried not to smile too much, and she stepped onto the first step letting the shallow water lap at her ankles. She heard his bare feet slapping the concrete, and a moment later he was standing beside her, his hand on the rail on the other side. "You look amazing." He told her. His voice was intense, with none of the teasing quality it normally had, and she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Had she gone too far wearing such a revealing bikini?

"Uh," she realised how stupid she sounded, but didn't really know how to answer. She looked over at him, this time she looked further than his face and down at his bare chest. Oh. She couldn't believe how well toned he was! She itched to place her hand on his chest, to run her hands down his biceps... But instead she took another step into the hot water, and the water rose to mid-calf. "You look good too, Rick." She used his name. Wait? Why did she do that! And what was that in her voice? She sounded like one of his _fangirls_. She mentally slapped herself, she was just going to inflate his ego speaking to him like that.

"Thanks," he said it quietly, and she glanced at him. He was smiling, but not the cat that got the canary type of smile, it was just a content smile. She found her eyes roving _his_ body, and she hoped he didn't notice. "And I thought _I_ was bad Detective. Can you not keep your eyes to yourself?" She blushed, and ducked her head in embarrassment, and to make matters worse she found herself muttering 'sorry,' to him. "I'm not asking for an apology." He chuckled, and then in one stride, skipping all the steps he moved into the water up to his neck, he moved to the side of the pool and rested his head on the concrete edge letting his body float on top of the hot water.

"Don't get the water in your ears, you'll get meningitis. Did you read the signs?" She asked, trying to change the topic. He just looked over at her, and she looked away. It was rather obvious she was trying to change the topic. She sat down on the bottom step and the water rose to her shoulders, she let her arms float in front of her and she let the warmth of the water soak into her skin, it was turning red from the heat already. He moved over to the step next to her, rather gracefully for a man his size really, and she smiled at him.

"No funny business," he said distractedly, looking at the wall opposite him. She tried really hard to keep her laugh from escaping, but after making a strange and embarrassing snorting noise came out instead, she let the laugh out and turned to him.

"Having some trouble with self restraint Castle?" He looked at her, his eyes intensely focused on hers. She held his gaze as long as possible, but she looked away first, unsure what exactly it was that she was feeling.

"Oh, I have something for us." He said, getting up and without looking at her he returned to his bag. He pulled out a bottle of wine, and held to wine glasses in his other hand. He got back into the water and handed her the glasses, sitting down he popped the top of the wine and let the top fly into the air, and then land with a splash into the water.

"Why Castle dear, you have thought of everything," she joked. He filled their glasses.

"Of course I did." He smiled. "And about the self restraint?" She nodded, taking a sip of wine. "I wouldn't dream of making you uncomfortable, or crossing that line." He smiled at her, but she could tell by his words he was being serious.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and sincerely. She just hoped _she_ could keep her hands to herself for the entire holiday.

The awkwardness of seeing each other in so little faded, and they chattered happily drinking their wine until a voice over the loud speaker said they had fifteen minutes to go before their time was up. They both got up and she couldn't resist just one... _One_ small touch. So she dragged her hand down his arm and squeezed his hand. "This was fun, we'll have to come back here before we leave." He looked down at their hands entwined, and she let go. He tucked a piece of her damp hair that had come loose from her pony tail behind her ear, his hand lingered a little longer than necessary. She felt a shiver of excitement run through her body. But as quickly as the moment had arrived, the moment was gone. They dressed on their respective sides of the wall, and headed out. The warmth from the pool, and the wine in her belly made her smile contentedly as they walked out the exit, and she found she couldn't help herself from taking his hand again, and she didn't let go until the got to the car.

..

When she got back to the room she checked her cell phone. She had three missed calls, and when she checked her call register she realised they were all from Lanie. _Crap_. She was supposed to call her. She quickly called her and listened to the phone ringing while she pulled out her pajama's and lay them on the seat in the bathroom in preparation for her shower. When she had come back and collapsed onto her bed, Lanie finally answered.

"What the hell, I thought you had died!" Beckett laughed at Lanie's version of answering the phone.

"Oh Lanie, I'm sorry. We had a really busy day." She was met with silence. "_Sorry_." She said, this time more sincerely.

"Okay girl, _details_!" Lanie had forgiven her for forgetting to call.

She told Lanie everything that had transpired, though didn't say too much about the pool. She figured Lanie could probably read between the lines anyway, but Beckett literally didn't know how to put into words what was happening between her and Castle...

**TBC.**


	7. Chapter 7: Castles POV

**Authors Note: **I apologise for the delay in bringing you this chapter. I've been sick... Again! I hope you are all still keen to find out what our favourite characters are up to! I loved the responses I got from my previous chapters, thank you :) This chapter hasn't been beta'ed, so hopefully it's okay. :)

**Chapter 7:** Castles POV

He woke shivering, even with the room being well heated he could tell today would be very cold. He lay there thinking he should get up and walk to the control box by the door and up the heat a little, but he snuggled further under the blankets warm from his heat, making sure as much of him was covered as possible, he even pulled the blankets up to his nose, but he found it hard to breathe like that so shuffled the blanket to his chin instead. He didn't know what they would be doing today, but they would need to dress warm. His phone beeped on the beside table, and he glared at it. To reach his phone he would have to bring his arm out into the cold air, and he didn't want to do that. He contemplated ignoring it, but eventually he decided he had better check it and pulled his arm out of the bed as fast as possible, grabbed the phone and pulled his arm (and phone) back under the blankets again in a matter of seconds. He inched his arm up so that only his hand was out of the blankets, and checked the screen, Alexis.

'You awake dad? There is snow on the hills around us!' He smiled, snow was magical. Well actually, when trying to get to work or to do anything important it was just plain annoying. But when away on holiday, it was just a pretty sight.

'I'm awake. Too cold to get up, I'll look soon.'

'Lazy bones, okay. Love you xo.' He smiled.

'Love you too. Make plans for the day kiddo. XO.'

He lay in bed a little longer, but began feeling guilty. Alexis would be eager to get off to do something, she wasn't really one for sleeping in. He sighed, and checked the time on his phone. 10.00am. He sighed again, it was pretty late. He counted to three as he prepared himself for the cold when he got out from under his blankets. On three he jumped out of the bed, gasping as the freezing cold air hit his body. He should have worn more clothes to bed, but after his dip in the hot pool & the long shower he took when he got back he wasn't cold when he went to sleep. He quickly moved across the carpeted room to the control box and turned the heat up. He then found himself some warm clothes. He put on long johns and a thermal top underneath his jeans, shirt and hoodie. He wore two pairs of socks, and his warmest boots. Maybe he was going over the top, but he hated getting cold. He glanced around his motel room, the blue bedcover lay half on the floor half on his bed, and his clothes were strewn from one side of his bed to the door to the bathroom. He would clean it later, cleaning was not the top of his priority list while on holiday. He went straight for Alexis' door and knocked, but after waiting a bit without answer he headed for Beckett's which was next to Alexis' room.

"Hello," he called as he knocked, Beckett answered the door. She was dressed warmly too, a red scarf wrapped around her neck. He always liked it when she wore that scarf.

"Goodmorning," Beckett said cheerfully, and stood aside letting him in. Her room wasn't half as messy as his, but his daughter sat in the middle of Beckett's bed a few books spread around her and a packet of potato chips opened beside her.

"Oh my God," Castle said in a high voice, trying to sound feminine. "I'm missing out on girl time!" He moved quickly towards the bed and bounced on it making a couple of the books fall on the floor and Alexis squeal.

"Castle... Just so you know? Your girl voice really needs some work." Beckett laughed, and sat next to him on the bed. "It turns out Alexis and I have a similar taste in books." Beckett leaned down to pick up one of the books off the floor, and he tried really hard not to check out her butt, but couldn't resist looking.

"Nice." He blurted out, without thinking. _Oops._ Maybe he shouldn't have commentedon her butt, he should have kept that to himself. Beckett sat back on the bed placing the book down, and frowned at him. It had been rather obvious to everyone in the room what he was talking about.

"So what are we going to do today dad?" Alexis asked, obviously trying to change the topic before any angry words were passed between her dad and Beckett. He smiled at her gratefully.

"I was thinking of going to the Chateau for lunch, and maybe sledding on the slopes there. Unless you want to go skiing today?"

"No skiing, I'm way too tired. This jetlag thing seems to be catching up on me." Beckett said, yawning for effect.

"Yeah I'm pretty tired too." Alexis conceded.

"Right, so lunch and some playing in the snow today then?" Castle said.

"Breakfast first," Alexis said, putting her hand to her stomach. "My tummy is growling!"

"What about McDonalds for breakfast? I feel like something fatty and awful for me." The girls laughed at this, but agreed. He asked them what they wanted, and headed to the car.

..

The drive to the Chateau at Mt. Ruapehu didn't take as long as he expected. Alexis was happily listening to her ipod in the back, and Beckett had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. She looked pretty uncomfortable, but then there wasn't any overly comfortable way to sleep in a car.

"Hey Beckett," he touched her shoulder. "We're here." She turned slowly, and he found her face mere centimetres from his. He planned on moving out of her space, but she mumbled something like '_you smell good_,' and he froze, and felt his eyes widen in surprise.

"Castle?" She suddenly sat up, almost hitting him in the face in the process. "Oh, we're here." She smiled, she obviously didn't remember what she had just said, or if she did remember her poker face had improved. Alexis put her ipod away and got out of the car, and did a slow twirl her arms out wide, taking in the scenery around them. There was snow as far as the eye could see in most directions, except the large building at the end of the parking lot, and of course all the parked cars. The three of them walked towards the building which was a restaurant and hotel. When they entered the front doors, he felt the heat hit his face and his cold skin tingled at the difference in temperature.

"Do you think it's going to snow while we're here?" Alexis asked them.

"I hope so, I love it when it snows." Beckett answered.

They were ushered to a table near the window which pleased him immensely. The view was beautiful, and if it snowed they would know first and wouldn't miss out on it.

They went quiet over lunch, focusing on the deliciously warm food in front of them. They finished with large cups of steaming coffee, and Alexis a hot chocolate with mini marshmellows floating on the top. She picked them off with a teaspoon, and ate them before taking a sip.

"Hello," Castle looked up in surprise, he'd been so busy watching Beckett sip her coffee and talk to his daughter he didn't see anyone approach.

"Hi," he looked at the lady standing next to their table. She had dyed red hair, a long fur coat, and high heeled boots on. Unusual, to say the least. Her green eyes were so green he assumed she had to be wearing contacts.

"I heard you guys talking," she gestured to the table next to them. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I noticed you were from the states." Castle looked over at the girls who were looking at him, amused. "And you look a lot like Richard Castle, you know, the author." Castle smiled at her, but said nothing. What was he to say? The lady was staring off into space now. Beckett cleared her throat, and the lady seemed to come out of her trance.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked.

"Yes," the strange woman answered. "Anyway, I was just going to say, I love your books Richard." The way she said his name in a familiar way made Castle nearly frown, but he hid it, and smiled.

"Thank you," the woman wandered off, and Alexis began giggling, Beckett followed suit and soon he couldn't help but laugh too.

"That has to be your weirdest fan yet dad!"

"Oh, I don't know..." He looked at Beckett, and they thought about their first case together. There was a silence as they remembered the case, and he was aware of Alexis, who had no idea what was going on wiggling uncomfortably in her chair. "Lets go rent us a sled, shall we?"

..

The three of them made their way to the rental centre next door, going from the warmth of the restaurant indoors, to being out in the cold was rather shocking, and he felt Beckett move closer to him. Probably unconcsiously, but he revelled in the fact that she was close to him, and hid his smile. They reached the counter, and she moved away to look at the prices on the wall, he tried not to feel disappointed.

"How can I help you?" The man behind the counter grinned cheerfully at them.

"We would like to rent a sled, please." He said.

"Sure, you guys from the states yeah?" He asked, writing something in a book.

"Yep," Alexis answered before he had a chance to.

"You seen any wild Kaimanawa's on your way up here?" He asked, smiling kindly at Alexis.

"What are Kaimanawa's?" Beckett asked from the other side of the room.

"Wild horses," Alexis answered.

"They are known to be around the Desert Road, and up this way." The man told them. "Rather stunning creatures, I sure hope you get to see them!" He finished handed Castle a form, which he quickly filled out. The man filed it away, and yelled behind him. "Can you get a sled and bring it out front Kevin?" He smiled at them. "Kevin'll bring your sled out front. Enjoy, and see you later!"

They found a teenager dragging a sled towards them out front, and Castle felt the excitement. He hadn't been sledding in a long time, it might sound child-ish, but he'd always enjoyed it more than skiing, sledding was such a carefree and fun thing to do...

..

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8: Becketts POV

**IMPORTANT.. Please go back and read the end of Chapter 7, which is the last Chapter I published. As I have added to it, and you will need to read it as some of it comes into later chapters. THANKS.**

**Authors Note: **You, dear readers are awesome. Thank you _so_ much for your reviews, they make me so happy.

My poor dog is very sick. She was in hospital for three nights on a drip. She's not doing to good, but we're trying her at home to see if she gets better in a more relaxed environment. She's a highly anxious dog. (She's a rescue.) It's her 2nd birthday in August! So she's young, and generally robust. So please send some positive thoughts (or prayers if you do that) in our direction, I don't want anything to happen to my girl!

But... Without further ado... I bring you Chapter 8!

**..**

**Chapter 8:** Becketts POV

..

She stood behind the tree, her back against the trunk. It was wide enough to hide her from them, and she stayed as still as stone, and waited patiently.

"Beckett?" It was Alexis. "Where did she go dad?" She heard their footsteps crunching across the snow. He had been sledding down the slope, and she had slipped away from Alexis while she took photos of her father. _This was going to be fun._

"Surely she would have told you where she was going Alexis!" Castle said exasperated. She made her move, she peeked around the tree to be sure of their positions, aimed, and threw a snowball straight at Castle's back. She heard a yelp, but didn't check behind her as she dashed to another copse of trees and hid again. "That _little..."_ Castle growled, and she heard Alexis laughing. She took the oppurtunity to throw one at the girl too.

"Hey! Hey Beckett, you're not supposed to get _me_!" She cried indignantly. Beckett peeked around the tree and saw Castle moving towards the first tree she had hidden behind, and she ducked further around the tree she was now behind, crouching low. She could still see him, and he turned back to Alexis, putting his finger to his lips in a 'shh' sign, and Alexis caught on fast. Alexis crept to some trees further away from her. She stood, and began tip-toeing away from them, but crunching footsteps got closer and she froze. There was no sound for a moment, then there was a woosh and she felt something hard hit her in the upper arm. She spun around to see Castle standing a few feet away, a triumphant grin on his face.

"This is _war_." Castle warned, his face suddenly becoming rather serious.

"I don't think so..." She walked away, and pretended to trip. "Ouch, shit." She scooped up some snow without him noticing.

"Are you-" she cut him off half way through his question with a snow ball to the chest. His mouth dropped in surprise, he had moved closer, and he was standing above her, she was still half lying on the ground after her pretend fall. "You... But..." He spluttered, still looking surprised. "That was _dirty._" He made the word '_dirty'_ sound _dirty_ and he leered at her. She lifted a hand up for him to help her.

"Peace then?" She asked him.

"I don't trust you."

"Don't you?" She stood by herself, when suddenly in quick sucession they were both hit with snowballs. Alexis had somehow crept around behind her, and she was somewhere behind Beckett's back, she stumbled forward as she was hit in the back, and Castle grabbed her arm to steady her. She lost her breath, but she didn't think it was from being hit with a snowball. She had a feeling it had more to do with Castle holding her arm, and being so close. He seemed a little stunned too, but recovered quickly. He kept hold of her arm, and pulled her behind the nearest trees, he tugged a little too hard though and she landed half on him as he crouched behind the trees.

"Oh, sorry." He muttered offhand, too focused on finding out where his daughter was hiding. She pushed her hand down on his thigh and pulled herself into a crouch. He turned at this, and she realised her hand was now gripping his thigh as she had forgotten to let go. She looked at her hand, and he looked at her hand, and she shrugged, feeling embarrassed. She pulled her gloved hand from his leg, and tucked it into her jacket pocket. But as another snowball came towards them, though aimed poorly and hit the tree they forgot about the awkward moment, and both peered around the tree cautiously trying to find Alexis. She noticed the red hair first, and elbowed Castle in the ribs to get his attention, she pointed from behind the tree in his daughters direction, and pointed to another lot of trees close by where they would be able to get a better shot at hitting her.

"Lets go," she whispered. He nodded, and she led the way. He followed close behind as quiet as they could in the snow. Thankfully beneath the trees the snow was softer and easier to walk quietly on. They scooped up their snowballs, and took aim. They threw them simultaneously, not that they had planned it that way. They heard a squeal from Alexis, and then the girl came running out from her hiding spot, rushed around the tree and tackled her dad.

"You guys suck! How did you find me?" Alexis grinned though as she play-fought with her father. Beckett grinned until Castle bumped into her knocking her onto her bum. "Careful of Beckett dad!" Alexis admonished him.

"I'm alright," Beckett laughed. "Boy, I haven't had a snowball fight in forever." Her cell phone started ringing, it sounded so strange in their snow, and tree filled environment. It just seemed out of place. All three looked at the offending object as she pulled it out of her pocket. "It's Lanie," she walked away from them to answer the phone.

"Hey girl, hows it going?"

"I'm out sledding, and having a snow ball fight with the Castles." Beckett answered with a laugh. "I never expected to..." She was going to say 'never expected to have _this_ much fun' but she didn't finish. She didn't want Lanie to think her and Castle had anything going on, she was sick of people talking about their relationship, or lack of.

"Sounds good. Look, I'll let you go. I just thought I'd check in on you." Lanie paused. "And see if _anything_ had happened... You know, between you and Castle." Beckett rolled her eyes. She had expected this, Lanie was her best friend after all.

"No Lanie, I'm not sure I want it to. So just leave it be, okay?" She said it kindly, and she could almost see Lanie rolling _her_ eyes this time.

"O-o-kay." She drew the word out. "Goodnight, keep me updated!" Lanie called, and before Beckett could answer, the woman had hung up, typical. She chuckled, and put her phone away. Alexis and Castle were walking out of the trees.

"I'm freezing," Castle whined. Beckett punched him playfully on the arm.

"Don't be such a girl, Castle." Alexis grinned at this. "One more go on the sled each, then we'll go get warmed up?" Alexis grabbed the rope from the sled and began dragging it up the hill.

"I could help warm you up," Castle teased, raising his eye brows up and down in a comical way.

"Ha, Castle. You _wish_." She laughed, and found that it came out as more of a giggle. Embarassed, and feeling like a little girl she turned to watch Alexis climb the hill. Today had been fun, actually she'd found their entire holiday a lot more relaxed than she had ever expected.

..

She pulled her gloves off and put them in her jacket pockets, and wrapped her hands around the large warm mug of coffee. Castle was right, once they'd stopped rushing around in the snow the cold had seeped through to her bones and she was truly cold. Castle and Alexis were warming their hands on their mugs too, Alexis was smiling slightly.

"This was fun," Alexis said, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "I'm so glad you could come with us Kate." She said it quietly and looked at her dad in askance, as if waiting for him to say something too. She watched a look pass between them, and she drew her eyebrows together in confusion. What were they communicating to each other?

"I'm glad she could come too." Castle said finally, looking over at Kate as he said it. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

"I am enjoying myself." I fought the blush on my cheeks. I didn't like the conversation being on me, it made me feel uncomfortable. "We're going to have to keep our eyes peeled for Kaimanawa horses on the way back, I would love to see the wild horses." I said to change the topic.

"Speaking of..." Castle looked down at his watch. "I was thinking of dropping into the hotel to have dinner and pick up our swimsuits, and then going to the hot pools to warm up. Do you girls want to do that?"

"Absolutely! I couldn't think of anything better than a hot pool. I'm frozen to the bone!" Alexis exclaimed, echoeing my previous thoughts on how cold I was.

"Sure," I agreed. The three of them finished their hot drinks in silence. Castle's nose was still red from the cold, and his hair was mussed up in a way that made him look like he had just woken up. She thought he looked rather sexy, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She glanced back at her coffee, trying to keep her eyes off him. She didn't want him to catch her staring and get the wrong idea. She was telling the truth when she'd spoken to Lanie earlier, she wasn't _sure_ whether she wanted anything to happen between them. It was strange feeling this way, before they'd gone away she was adamant nothing would happen between them. Now she found herself swinging between wanting something to happen, and being terrified something would happen between them. She shook her head. Things were so confusing.

**TBC.**

Please review! It'll cheer me up, AND give me some motivation for writing the next chapter. Been so busy caring for my sick pup, I'm finding it hard to do anything else!


	9. Chapter 9: Castles POV

**Authors Note: **My dog [Sassy is her name by the way] is doing much better! Thank you for your kind words. :-)

I love hearing what you have to say, so please review if you have the time! Constructive criticism is definitely welcome, I'm not a very good writer and it's great being able to learn from the things you have to tell me. I know my worst problem is switching between 3rd & 1st person, so I apologise for that! I'll try and find someone to look over my chapters. :)

Now, I have a question for you guys. How do you feel about Beckett & Castle going trout fishing? I have a feeling Castle won't know a _huge_ amount about fishing, but I have a feeling Beckett's dad would have taught her how to fish. What are your thoughts? Turangi is trout fishing central, and my dad would be over the moon if I added it in. ;-) He's already describing where they would go to fish!

You guys are again... Just so wonderful. XO

**Chapter 9:** Castle's POV

"Can we order pizza, do you guys like pizza?" Beckett asked. They were back from Mt Ruapehu, and they had all traipsed back to his room and collapsed in various places around the room.

"We like pizza," Castle took out his cell, and ordered three pizzas.

"Why so many?"

"I'm starving." Beckett rolled her eyes at him. "And I'm _tired_." He sounded a little whiney, he knew it... But he couldn't help it. He wasn't made for all this running around in the freezing cold anymore, he was getting _old_. He really wanted to go to bed actually, but he didn't want to be a party pooper and Beckett and Alexis seemed to really want to go to the pools.

"Stop whinging Castle!" Beckett said, sounding as tired as he felt.

"You guys are so grumpy." Alexis said, but smiled to soften her words. "What do we have planned for tomorrow?" He turned pained eyes on his daughter. Tomorrow? He wanted to sleep in, and do _nothing_!

"I was wondering... We could skip the hot pools tonight." Beckett suggested. "To be honest I'm fairly tired too." She nodded at Castle, and he was pleased to know he wasn't the only exhausted one in the room. "And go to De Brett's hot pools tomorrow."

"O-oh!" Alexis made a girly excited noise, and Castle found himself chuckling. "They have a huge slide there, sounds like fun!"

"It's in Taupo, and maybe we can do some shopping?" Beckett asked, and Castle groaned loudly. "_You_ are not invited. I thought if you brought your laptop you could get some writing done?"

"I'd love to go shopping!" Alexis told Beckett. He could see his daughter was excited to have a woman to go shopping with. He wasn't much of a shopper really, not the kind of shopping Alexis liked to do anyway. "I wonder what kind of shops they have in Taupo," Alexis mused. A knock on the door distracted them, and he rose to get the door, but Beckett waved him away.

"You've paid for so much so far, let me pay." He opened his mouth to protest, but the look in her eyes made him back away and sit back down. She could be scary sometimes.

"Thank you," he heard Beckett tell the delivery driver, she closed the door with her foot as she brought in the three pizzas, and they opened them all on the bed and sat in front of a pizza each. The only noise in the room was them chewing, and the wind outside, it had began thrashing against the windows as if trying to fight it's way into the room.

"I hope it's not raining tomorrow." Beckett commented. He looked over towards her, and found himself really taking her in for the first time since they'd been out. Her hair was a little messy, definitely messier than usual. But he liked it like this, and the scarf she'd neatly knotted around her neck this morning hung lose over her shoulders now. She was looking at him, waiting to see if he would answer and he found himself staring into her eyes. Eventually he dragged his eyes from hers, he would never win a staring contest with her... But his eyes fell onto her lips, pink and parted slightly. His mind went blank, all he could think of was kissing her. He almost did to be honest, with her sitting so close to him, close enough for his hand to brush hers – which had already 'accidentally' happened a couple of times since he'd been sitting next to her... But he managed to tear his eyes away and look at Alexis who was responding to a text on her phone, and his mind suddenly cleared. He couldn't kiss her! He'd promised he wouldn't step over that line, and most importantly Alexis was here!

"I'm going to go and call Ashley," Alexis said without looking up, she left the room.

"I hope it doesn't rain either," he answered her, but far too late. She noticed, and quirked an eye brow up in question.

"What's up with you tonight?" She asked, closing her pizza box and placing it on top of Alexis', while neither of the girls had finished their pizza he was nearly finished his. He bit into his pizza and gestured to his mouth to say he was chewing and couldn't answer. Really he just needed time to figure out a way to answer her truthfully without making her uncomfortable. Finally, he had to swallow or it would become suspicious. He decided just to say he was thinking of today, it wasn't exactly a lie he had been kind of thinking of that too.

"It's nice sitting here with you, you're beautiful." Oh what? That was _not_ what he planned to say! The words had come out rushed, and Beckett looked surprised for a moment.

"Oh," she blinked rapidly as if trying to figure out what he meant. "Oh..." She repeated, and reached out and to his surprise she grabbed his hand, she looked into his face intently. "I'm really enjoying myself Castle... And thank you... For calling me _beautiful_. You're..." She trailed off, looking over his shoulder. And his heart sunk. What was he to her? Old? Sort of _distinguished_? He'd been called distinguished before, it just meant old really. "-really gorgeous sometimes you know? Today... After being in the snow I was thinking that. I was thinking you looked really _sexy_." She lowered her voice on the last word, sounding husky. It was his turn to be speechless, he looked into her eyes trying to figure it out. What did she want? Was she hitting on him? Did she want him to kiss her? He was confused, and didn't want to upset her. She pulled her hand away looking a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks," he said snatching her hand back. "I don't know what it means, but thank you." She looked back at him, she had been looking at the door ready to escape.

"It means... I'm confused about how I feel Rick," she told him, so quietly he barely heard her. "I like what we have at the moment... And let me just figure things out, okay?" He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, his heart leapt to his throat in excitement. She wasn't saying she didn't like him! She was saying she _did_, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do yet! He tried to get rid of the grin, because she was frowning worriedly at him and her hand twitched in his.

"I'm not going to do anything," he promised her, his grin finally fading into a smile. She smiled tiredly, but her eyes lit up.

"Thank you, you're a patient man Rick, I know you're not going to wait around forever for me to make up my mind." He looked over at her, he knew what he felt and that was he would wait _forever_ if he had to. But he knew he shouldn't say that, it would scare her off. He gave her a hand a squeeze, and she squeezed his hand back. "I'll see you in the morning." She went to leave, and then to his surprise she turned back, leaned over the bed so close it made him freeze in shock. Is she going to...? She kissed him on the cheek, her hands on his shoulders. He wanted to kiss her lips, so close to his face... But he resisted, and even managed to say '_goodnight.'_ She left, and he lay back on his bedcovers, head hitting the pillow hard with a silly grin on his face. _Maybe_ he had a chance with the stunning Detective Beckett?

..

He woke on top of his covers, and it took him a little while to get his bearings. Once he did, he looked out the window from his position on the bed and saw it was over-cast, but not raining thankfully. The De Brett's pools were outdoors, and he didn't fancy swimming in the pools while being rained on today. He picked up his cell phone that had fallen on the ground overnight, it was 10.30am. He sighed, he should probably get up. With difficulty, he pulled himself off the bed, groaning in pain. His muscles ached from the sledding the day before. He wasn't as fit as he'd once been. He stumbled into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. He looked awful, his hair was sticking up all over the place and he had squinty tired eyes. He turned the shower on, the water was taking a long time to warm up so he slipped into the main room and made a coffee with the instant coffee, jug and mugs that had been left on a table in his room. He had no milk, but he didn't care.

He drank his coffee sitting on the end of his bed, and his thoughts went back to Beckett and last night. The pleasure he felt remembering her kissing his cheek woke him up better than the coffee did so he placed the half empty mug on the table.

After showering he did a quick tidy up from the night before, and headed out to the car. He drove down to the first cafe he found and bought a hot chocolate and two coffees, he couldn't find a bear claw but at least he could give her the usual coffee.

When he got back he found Alexis and Beckett sitting at the table and chairs on the deck outside Alexis' room. He came over with a big smile, handing the girls their drinks with a flourish.

"Thanks Castle," Beckett said, sounding very relieved. "The coffee in the rooms is crap."

"I was just saying to Beckett we'd be driving past Lake Taupo, I can't wait to get some photos! Do you know how Lake Taupo formed dad?" He grabbed a chair and sat heavily into it, his muscles felt a tiny bit better after the hot shower that morning but he was really looking forward to the long soak he would be having later at the hot pools.

"No, I don't know."

"There was a huge eruption, and the land collapsed and Lake Taupo was formed." Alexis told him. "It must have been a _huge_ eruption to form such a huge lake!"

"Is the volcano that caused it still live?" Beckett asked worriedly. She may be able to defend herself against criminals, but she can't do anything about mother nature.

"It's dormant, we're safe though. Experts say they don't expect any activity, it's been centuries since the last one." Alexis was beginning to sound like a brochure.

"You read too many of those brochures Alexis," Castle laughed. "Can't we just pretend Lake Taupo magically appeared there?" Alexis looked affronted.

"No! Dad it's so interesting, how can you not find it interesting?" He laughed, but smiled kindly at his daughter.

"You're so clever, Alexis. I know, it is interesting, thanks for sharing." He told her genuinely. Beckett looked up at the sky.

"The weather isn't too bad. Should we head off?" He agreed with her, and they headed for the car throwing their empty coffee cups into a bin near the car.

..

**TBC..**


	10. Chapter 10: Becketts POV

**Chapter 10: **Beckett's POV

**Authors note:** Let me know what you think. [I thought I posted Chapter 9 a week ago, but I forgot to add it! Sorry. Now you get two chapters in one night!]

..

The moment Lake Taupo came into view, silence fell on the car. It lay flat, like glass stretching as far as the eye could see. Swans stood on shore stretching and drying their wings, some moved smoothly through the water. Birds she didn't recognise also stretched their wings on the rocks; the sun was burning off the clouds so the animals were making the most of the sunlight and the warmth that it brought. Without asking, she pulled into the first picnic area she could find. Castle turned to look at her, and smiled... His smile told it all. The view was stunning. The clambered out of the car and onto the still muddy ground, and moved to the shore. Black sand mingled with stones and pummus crunched under their feet. They stopped near the shore and Alexis let out a gasp.

"Wow, this is even more beautiful than I expected. The photos do it no justice!" She picked up a smooth stone, and skipped it across the water. Castle threw a large piece of pummus into the water, and began throwing stones towards it – but missed. She sat down on the slightly damp ground, and took in a deep breath. The air was still wintery cold and made her lungs hurt. But she hadn't felt _this_ good in a long time.

"I wish it were summer, this would be a beautiful place to swim." She told them, imagining jumping from the rocks into the fresh water.

"See over there," Castle pointed far off, and she couldn't quite figure out where he was pointing. "That's the river mouth; I hear its good fishing here. Turangi is the best place to fish for trout in New Zealand."

"You want to go fishing?" Alexis asked, scrunching up her face. "I don't like fishing." She tuned out their conversation, and looked around. A copse of trees near to where she had parked the car looked enticing, so she looked over at father and daughter who were arguing good naturedly whether fishing was a sport or not, and headed up towards the trees. The ground was still sodden from the rain they'd had over night, and it smelled of damp earth and decaying leaves. But she liked the smell, and the trees were pretty. She walked through the trees; they were so thick she couldn't even see the shore beyond them. Small animals were moving, so she stayed still trying to figure out where they were. A fantail darted out in front of her, and she jumped in surprise, and a little further away she could hear a beautiful bird song. She carried on walking towards the bird making such a wonderful sound, but the cracking of a brunch and heavy footsteps stopped her. What in the _hell_ was that? She stayed still again, straining her ears.

"Boo!" Castle leapt out from somewhere behind her and grabbed her shoulders. She let out a squeak of surprise, and covered her mouth.

"Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?" She tried to sound stern, but ended up just laughing.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked as she turned to face him.

"Just looking around, I heard a bird..." She trailed off, and tried to hear it again but it had stopped.

"It was a bell bird," Castle told her. "They're not as pretty as fantails," he said, pointing to a pair of fantails that flitted past them. "But they sound beautiful, don't they?"

"Sure do," she looked over her shoulder. "Where is Alexis?"

"Still on the beach," He shrugged. "I just wondered where you had gone; I'll leave you to it." He obviously thought he was annoying her, but that wasn't the case. Actually having him follow her wasn't so bad, for once she didn't find it annoying. Kind of sweet actually...

"It's okay," She answered. "I was just thinking we should head off, that's all." Smiling to reassure him, she began walking back the way she'd come.

"Good," he walked behind her, and tripped not long after they set off. She had a strong suspicion his eyes were not on the ground looking for obstacles the way they should be, she thought they might be somewhere higher up – like on her ass! She spun around the second time he tripped.

"Pay attention Castle...! Keep your eyes where you're walking, not _somewhere_ else." He nearly bumped into her, so she found herself toe to toe with him.

"I didn't! How did you know?" He looked down at his feet, obviously pretending to be ashamed. She knew he didn't really care what she thought, and technically he wasn't doing any harm – except to himself.

"Know what?" She asked, blinking innocently at him before turning and walking again.

"I swear you have eyes in the back of your head sometimes." She heard him mutter over the sound of them walking. She chose to ignore it, instead smirking to herself.

..

Alexis sat in the backseat, her eyes still on the lake as they drove out of the car park. She sighed contentedly, and Beckett smiled at the sound. She liked Alexis, _a lot_. She couldn't wait to spend some time later shopping with her and getting to know the girl some more. And she figured Alexis needed some girl time. She remained lost in her thoughts for the majority of the trip, until Castle's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Left, LEFT!" She jerked the steering wheel quickly turning into the street Castle was wildly pointing out.

"Sorry," she muttered. They came to De Brett's Hotel & Hot pools, and she parked up. The parking lot was fairly full, so she figured the pools could be busy. They got out of the car, she was glad to have stopped driving, she had been getting bored.

"I'm going down the slide before you dad!" They looked down the hill; the large outdoor hot pools were spread out below them. Alexis was pointing to a large white slide. She looked over her shoulder at the sound of a child's voice. It took her a moment to spot her, but a small child was lying flat on her stomach looking underneath a large rubbish bin.

"_Come on out," _the girl was saying, squeezing her arm under the bin.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, heading towards the girl. She sat up. She had blonde hair and adorable piggy tails in pink ribbons. But dirt smudged her cheek where it had been resting on the ground.

"I'm just saying hello to the kitties, they need someone to love them 'cause they're scared." The girl said in a childish voice, smiling at Beckett. "They're _wild_, but the kittens sometimes let me cuddle them." She smiled, and a lady approached them.

"Sarah, come on. You're getting dirty on the ground!" The lady laughed though. "She loves cats," she said, this time talking to me.

"That's really sweet, that she's spending time with the wild cats."

"Sweet, but tiresome at times for me... I deal with the dirty clothes and scratched hands. But yes, she's a sweet girl, with a big heart." The woman smiled lovingly at her daughter who had obediently gotten off the ground and hurried to her mother's side.

"Beckett?" Castle came over, and she walked to him.

"See you later Sarah," Beckett waved, and the little girl waved enthusiastically back before following her mother towards the hotel.

"We pay down the bottom of that hill, it says on the sign." He pointed to a sign Alexis was reading.

"Okay, let's go then." She shifted her bag to a more comfortable position on her shoulder, it was rather heavy with her swimsuit and towels and water in it, and she had even managed to squish her handbag into it.

They walked down a steep hill, and paid at a little office. Steam rose from the hot pools, but where they stood in the shade was rather cold. She couldn't wait to get in.

"Let's go get changed," Alexis pointed to the women's changing rooms. Castle moved towards the mens.

"Okay," she followed Alexis. She slipped into a cubicle to get changed. She sat on a little wooden bench and removed her socks and shoes first. When she placed her feet on the wet ground she shivered, the puddled water on the floor was _freezing_. Hopping from foot to foot she quickly changed into her bikini, and wrapped a towel around herself shoving all her clothes and shoes into her bag.

"It's c-c-cold!" Alexis said when she came out, her teeth chattering. "Let's get t-these bags into a locker and get in to the water!" They shoved their towels into the lockers, and goose bumps erupted on her arms and legs.

"I love your bikini." I told her. The blue brought out the colour of the girls eyes.

"Thanks, yours too." Then she turned and winked at her. "Dad's going to like it; did he get to see it when you went to the hot pools last time?" She asked innocently.

"Yes,"

"And you guys are _still_ not dating?" Alexis widened her eyes in mock surprise. Beckett felt a blush rising to her cheeks.

"I... um... no. Let's go..." Beckett led the way to the water, and stepped in before Alexis could ask any more questions. She didn't know how much Alexis has figured out, or what her father had told her.

"Hello pretty ladies," Castle said, almost strutting over to them. He stepped in next to them. "I'm pretty sure I'm here with the two most beautiful girls." He grinned. "I bet the other guys will be _so_ jealous." She raised her eye brows, and a plan began to form in her mind. She moved the rest of the way into the water and it reached her shoulders. She let the warmth soak through to her bones, and smiled contentedly. She was certainly going to have fun this afternoon...

**TBC.**

**Authors Note**: I didn't really want to end this chapter there, but I need to get back to Beckett's POV for her and Alexis' shopping trip... I'm looking forward to writing about their girly time. :) So the rest of their time at De Bretts etc. will be from Castle's POV... I'll update soon. :)


	11. Chapter 11: Castles POV

**Authors Note:** Yes, I'm still writing this! Don't worry. :-)

Thanks so much for your lovely reviews! I'm at a rather rough point in my life (yet again it seems) and your reviews have been the highlight of my days!

So I cannot thank you enough! *hugs to you all*

**Chapter 11:** Castles POV

He floated under a waterfall of hot water running from the smaller, but warmer pool above the one the three of them had first entered. The hot water beat against his shoulders, and he felt himself relax. Alexis was off acquiring a wrist band so she could go down the slide, and Beckett was... oh. He stood up quickly and forgot about the waterfall of water and got a face full. By the time he'd wiped his eyes and moved out of the water she had disappeared round the corner. But she'd definitely been talking to a guy, and she looked - but then maybe he was being paranoid - maybe she wasn't really flirting with someone. And if she were, really he had no claim on her. He frowned. He didn't really want to interfere... but after the other night he had felt they may have a chance. If she was going to play with his heart like this he certainly wasn't going to sit around and watch it!

"Dad, I'm going down now! Watch me!" Alexis called walking around the edge of the pool towards the slide an excited glint in her eyes. He moved across to the other side of the pool where he had a good view of the slide.

"You go girl," he laughed. She disappeared up the stairs and he discreetly looked in the direction Beckett had gone. She had her head thrown back in a laugh, and before he turned away he saw her look over in his direction a smirk on her face. What the hell did she think she was doing? He didn't think she was the kind of girl to toy with his heart like this. She had to know how strong his feelings for her were. He turned back to the slide and saw Alexis waving from the top, he waved back.

"Hey, is Alexis going down the slide?" Beckett slid up next to him touching his arm briefly and his heart lurched in his chest. Where was the guy she'd been flirting with? He watched his daughter going down the slide, and turned to her. Her face was close to his, and she still had that playful smirk on her face, and he watched as she blinked slowly her long dark lashes brushing almost brushing her cheeks.

"Yeah, she did." He answered, maybe a little coldly.

"I saw you watching me," she elbowed him playfully, and he felt anger now.

"So?" He asked. The smirk fell from her face, and he felt a little guilty... But what she had been doing had confused, and hurt him.

"I just wanted to see your reaction," she answered quietly. The smirking, and the looking over her shoulder at him all suddenly came clear to him.

"Oh," he watched her eyes as she looked up at him earnestly.

"Stupid joke, huh?" He raised his eye brows, but felt a smile twitch at the corner of his mouth he tried to fight it back, but lost.

"I guess you got a good reaction though." She smiled slightly.

"I didn't mean to upset you, I thought you might..." She trailed off, and he tilted his head to the side.

"Thought I might what?" She didn't answer and looked at something over his head. "Interrupt in a jealous rage?" They both laughed at this, it was funny because to be honest it was pretty close to the truth.

"No more teasing Castle then." She told him. "I'm going to go to the spa pool, want to come?" She asked. He had visions of doing things in the spa pool with her that were definitely not appropriate for two friends and found himself agreeing to go with her without properly thinking it through. They exited the pool and headed over to the rooms with the spa pools he shivered as the cold air hit his warm body. He watched as goose bumps erupted over Beckett's flesh. He brushed his hand over her cold arm and she looked over at him in surprise.

"You have goose bumps," he commented lightly and took a step further away from her. He had to remember not to touch her so much. Just because she'd made a step over that fine line drawn between them didn't mean she would accept his advances. She was still unsure what she wanted, and she had a long way to go before she made a firm decision. He knew her well; she would weigh up her choices for as long as she can before deciding. She was definitely not as impulsive as him.

"Oh, it's much warmer in here." She told him as they entered the spa room. She was right, the air in the room was so much warmer than outside.

"Sure is," he swallowed hard as some of the visions he'd had when she first mentioned going into the spa pool with her came back, and he realised why it wasn't such a good idea. How much self control did he really have? The spa pools were pretty small, there was sure to be accidental brushing against each other... This was _such_ a bad idea... "I should tell Alexis where we are going." He backed away and out of the room leaving a confused looking Beckett with one foot on the first step into the spa. He walked over to the pool to see his daughter sitting under the waterfall where he had been, and she was talking to yet another girl of a similar age. She seemed to be able to find people to talk to everywhere she went. He waved at her and approached the edge of the pool where she was, and crouched to talk to her.

"Hey dad," she said smiling. "Did you see me go down the slide?"

"Yeah, of course... Kate watched too. Looks fun, I'm going to have to give it a shot later." He smiled at his daughter and then at the other girl. "I'm just going into the spa pools with Kate, okay? So we're in there if you want us." He pointed towards the spa rooms, and rose to his feet.

"Have fun," he could have sworn his daughter was smirking at him in a knowing way, but he decided he must have misread her expression.

..

"Welcome back," his heart began beating so fast he thought he might faint. He hadn't seen Kate looking so sexy before. Her hair was damp and hanging in curls framing her face, and she was stretched out her arms resting against the edge of the pool and her beautiful long legs floating before her... Her toe nails were painted red and she had her mouth just slightly open and... Oh boy, who cared if this was a bad idea he was going to burn this image into his brain forever more. He numbly climbed into the spa and did his best not to touch her as he found a spot in the pool to rest in. The swirling and bubbling water soothed the aching cold from his body and without talking he rested his head against the edge of the pool and closed his eyes. He didn't need to look at her, he could feel her presence close by, and when he closed his eyes he could see her image. He smiled contentedly. What could be better than sitting in a spa pool with a sexy, smart, kind woman like Detective Kate Beckett?

"Should we go down the slide?" He nearly jumped when her voice broke through the silence. He didn't know how long they'd been in the spa for, probably quite a while. He had a feeling he had nodded off briefly.

"Okay," he answered trying to clear his tired fuzzy brain. She stood and her arm brushed his sending shivers up his arm and down his spine.

"Come on then," she lifted herself out of the pool and stood on the edge looking down at him. He looked up, taking in her body just a little bit more... making the most of it. What sane man wouldn't? "Castle..." She said warningly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sorry," he pressed his lips together trying not to laugh. He got out of the pool and found Alexis heading their way. "We are going down the slide, want to come down again?" He asked. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body.

"I'm cold; I've been down a couple more times already!" She smiled. "I'm going to jump back in to watch you guys, and then I'm going to go in and get changed."

"Sounds good pumpkin," he kissed her on the forehead and headed over to the office with Beckett to get wristbands to go on the slide.

...

"You go first," he said gently nudging her towards the slide. She moved away from the slide and put her hands on her hips.

"No you go first!" He noticed the security person standing to the side trying not to look interested in the two people arguing in front of him.

Castle had discovered when he found himself at the top of the stairs (panting a little) that the slide looked much higher from up here than it did from the ground. His daughter hadn't been fazed though, and he didn't want to appear a wimp... He took a deep breath and strode towards the slide. He made for a nice easy slide down, but accidentally slipped at the top and tumbled into the slide his arms waving ridiculously in the air he yelped in surprise and found himself hurtling towards the water below. He sucked in a deep breath and felt the slightly cool water rushing over his head, and the next thing he knew someone had bumped into him from behind. He rose above the water with a soft hand wrapped around his wrist. Beckett.

"Are you okay?" He looked at Kate's concerned eyes and contemplated telling her something hurt, but to be honest he probably wasn't even bruised from the slip.

"I'm fine," he began to move to the side of the pool, but her hand didn't let go.

"I thought for a second... you..." He turned to look back at her, and noted she still looked shaken. He supposed watching someone fall would have been scarier than actually falling yourself. From her vantage point it probably looked like he was going to fall right off the edge. He brushed tucked her wet hair behind her ears, and smiled at her without saying anything and waited for her face to relax. It took a moment, but her eyes softened and he watched her lips turn up into a smile. He felt more than saw her tilt her head up – as his hands were still cupped around her face. Did she want him to... oh screw it; he wasn't going to miss a chance to kiss her. He leant down and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her arms find their way around his neck and she pulled his face closer to hers, pressing his lips harder against hers. Her tongue darted out and he deepened the kiss... Oh God. He couldn't even think of a way to describe what it felt like to be kissing her. Sure he'd kissed her before, but it wasn't on her terms like this... She had decided on the kiss this time. He sighed into her mouth as she slowly pulled away until their foreheads touched.

"Um, that was..." he licked his lips. "_Amazing_," he said.

"Unexpected," she answered him at the same time. He raised an eye brow.

"Unexpected, really...? What was the tilt-y face for then?"

"I did not have a – tilt-y – face!" She insisted, but he could see the guilty look on her face.

"Uh huh," he said disbelievingly. "Come on let's get out of this water and get warmed up and dressed, its cold." He squeezed her hand before he got out of the pool. She was still standing looking shell shocked when he began walking towards the changing rooms. The moment he had turned from her he couldn't stop grinning like a mad man. He just got to kiss her, _really_ and truly kiss her!

..

**TBC.**

**Authors Note: **So, they finally kiss. Too soon? What do you think? Kate & Alexis' shopping trip coming up next!


	12. Chapter 12: Becketts POV

Authors Note: Eek, so if anyone wants to BETA this chapter please let me know.

I hope you're all still reading this! :( I should have updated AGES ago.

Thanks for all my reviews; it means a lot to me! XO

Without further ado...

..

Chapter 12: Beckett's POV

..

She had gotten changed after the _'slide incident'_ (as she was calling the kiss in her head) in a bit of a daze. Alexis was already dressed and sipping a hot chocolate at the tables outside the changing rooms when she had finally come out of her stupor after... the _slide incident_. She must have looked like an idiot standing there. She wondered if the security guard up on the platform had seen them kiss...

"Ready Kate...?" Alexis asked throwing her disposable cup away and coming over to link arms with her.

"Sure am, I really need this girly time. Where are we ditching your dad?" Alexis grinned.

"The side of the highway...?"

"I don't think so!" Castle's voice came from behind them, and the girls turned to look at him. He was dressed, his hair a little mussed up still from being towel dried. She met his eyes, and gave him a small smile. She didn't know what the... Er... _slide incident_ meant yet. But she would think on it later. "I want to be dropped at a nice cosy Cafe thank you very much."

"This is kind of cosy..." Alexis commented, an innocent look on her face. The three of them looked around the small cafe area, the wooden deck was wet with the hundreds of wet feet that had walked across it today and an icy breeze ran through the area. No one lingered long at the tables. Beckett laughed at this and gently tugged on the girl whose arm was still linked with hers.

"We're not that cruel, we do _sort of_ like him. Even if he is a _boy_..." She said playfully flicking her hair over her shoulder with her free hand. The three of them laughed at her joke and headed back to the parking lot. All in all the trip to the hot pools had been a success, they had smiles on their faces. Although she knew that the smiles she and Castle wore were for a totally different reason to Alexis'.

..

"Right, now that the _boy_ is gone, where do you want to go?" Beckett asked Alexis.

"I don't know where _anything_ is here!"

"Neither..." They drove around for a bit and found a likely looking street with some shops on it and found a park.

"Oh, look at this..." Alexis pointed to a souvenir shop. "I want to get something for Ash, so this is probably a good place to start." Kate followed her into the store, and stared around in surprise. It was truly a beautiful souvenir shop. A lot of the gifts were made with paua which was a beautiful blue in colour. She picked up a box of coasters and found she couldn't put them down even though her coasters at home were perfectly fine. These ones were glass with a swirl of paua in the middle. Alexis was looking at the key rings, and Kate headed over to help her choose something for her boyfriend.

"Does Ashley have a car?"

"He's going to be old enough to go for his license before me, so I thought I'd get him a key ring now, and these ones are so beautiful! I can't decide." Kate reached out and touched a plush kiwi key ring it was so soft to touch she couldn't help but stroke it more.

"Kiwi's are quite cute for a flightless bird," she commented.

"Awww," Alexis made an admiring noise, and touched the kiwi too. "I don't think it's very masculine though, Ash might not appreciate me bringing home something like that for him." She chuckled, and Kate smiled. "Hey look, New Zealand T Shirts!" Alexis headed towards a rack of T Shirts, and Kate followed. They admired the maori designs, and black and white All Blacks t shirts. Neither Alexis or Kate were very interested in Rugby but Alexis chose a black T shirt with a gorgeous maori design in green on the front with the words 'Kia Ora' written beneath the image. Kate tried on a soft woollen beanie with cat ears and checked herself out in the mirror with a laugh. Alexis looked over her shoulder at their reflection and smiled.

"You have to buy it!" Alexis told her. "This is the land where there are more sheep than people." She checked the tag and it said '_made from pure NZ wool,'_ and she rolled her eyes in the girls direction.

"Don't you think I'm a little too old for a beanie with animal ears attached?"

"I'm not!" Alexis grabbed it off Kate with a flourish and shoved it on her own head and posed with one hand delicately placed on her hip and her head tilted to the side. Beckett grinned at her, and gave her the thumbs up.

"It suits you, how about I buy it for _you_ then?"

"_Oh_, no, no I wasn't asking you to buy it for me." Alexis suddenly looked worried.

"But I _want_ to." Beckett took the hat off the girls head and moved over to the counter. Alexis chewed her lip looking guilty next to her, and she hoped she'd done the right thing buying something for Alexis.

"Thanks Kate," Alexis told her as they left the shop and wandered down the street in the winter sunshine taking in the wonderful smells of coffee and food from the nearby cafes.

"That's okay, you deserve it." They went into a companionable silence as they checked out the nearby shops.

"Oh, what about this shop... Look at that dress!" Alexis gestured enthusiastically and almost dropped the plastic bag with Ashley's present and her new hat in it from the first shop.

"That's amazing..." Kate's eyes widened. A stunning blue dress on the manikin in the window had caught Alexis' eyes. It had thin straps over the shoulder, and a silky fabric that hung to the knee. It was the colour more than anything that had caught their eyes, such a stunning blue.

The girls made sounds of appreciation as they gently stroked the soft fabrics of the dresses in the shop, and Kate even found herself hanging one dress over her arm to try on. She wasn't really one to wear dresses, but Alexis was trying on the blue evening gown from the window so she decided trying on the black dress she liked couldn't hurt.

"Oh, Kate.." Alexis had made her go into the changing room first, and she nervously stepped from behind the curtains to show Alexis the dress. It was rather slimming she had to admit, and it somehow made her eyes look greener than usual. "That dress is phenomenal!"

"I don't know... Where would I wear it?"

"You are friends with my _dad_ right?" Alexis widened her eyes. "He goes out _all_ the time, you should know that!" Kate looked at her reflection in the full length mirror one more time and turned her green eyes onto the girls blue ones.

"Are you _sure_ it looks good?"

"Duh!" Alexis said with an eye roll.

"Okay, okay. You try on the blue dress." She stepped away from the changing room and sat down where Alexis had been sitting. She didn't bother changing back into her clothes straight away; she wanted to make sure the dress was comfortable as well as pretty. She didn't want to be straightening it all night if she did go out in it. Before Alexis finished dressing Kate's cell phone rang.

"Hello Castle," she said cheerfully.

"Hey, how's shopping?"

"Great, how's writing?" She smirked.

"Okay. There is a storm coming in, so your shopping trip may have to be shortened sorry. I've been walking around town while you guys have been shopping and the storm is all anyone is talking about."

"Writing my ass," Kate laughed when she heard he'd been walking around town rather than writing. "Okay, where are you?"

"Er. Kea Street."

"Oh, so are we. We're in the dress shop next door to Starbucks; I can't remember what it's calld." They hung up, and Alexis came out from behind the curtain.

"Was that dad?" Kate gaped at the girl; she couldn't believe how beautiful Castle's daughter was. She just looked absolutely perfect!

"You look stunning. Yes it was your dad; he says there is a storm coming." She and the girl stood in front of the full length mirror admiring the beautiful dresses. The only thing Kate was unsure about was the price, she was too afraid to check.

"Wo-o-ow," Castle came up behind them and gave a drawn out 'wow,' in admiration at their dresses. "I'm here with the two prettiest ladies!" He grinned. Kate felt a blush rise to her cheeks; she had hoped to dress before Castle arrived. She felt uncomfortable standing there in the slinky black dress under the bright fluorescent lights with Castle's eyes roving her body. He seemed to recognise her embarrassment and he smiled kindly.

"You guys want a hot coffee for the trip home? I'll go next door and order while you guys change back into your clothes." He turned, but as she watched him walk away he turned one last time to look at her and she saw the longing in his eyes.

..

They travelled safely back to their motel in Turangi with their few purchases and holed up in Castle's room with the heat pump on high and blankets wrapped around them. It was getting so cold; she couldn't believe how much the temperature had dropped since the beginning of the day. Castle was using the kitchenette in his room to prepare a meal of Spaghetti Bolognaise. Which was his specialty according to Alexis. She sighed contentedly. It might be cold outside, but being inside curled up on the couch, Alexis sitting leaning against her legs a book in her hands and Castle 'slaving' over the oven cooking them dinner... She couldn't think of much better. She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off, an image of the kiss they shared entered her mind and instead of feeling scared, she felt herself smile.

**TBC**

Authors Note: Just two things to note in this chapter...

a) Kia Ora is a Maori greeting. It technically means "be well, healthy" but it is used informally as a way to say "hi," :)

b) There are actually more people than sheep in NZ now, but it was widely known we had more sheep than people at one stage which was hilarious. :D


	13. Chapter 13: Castles POV

**Authors Note:** Yay, so some of you still want to read this! This is a fairly short chapter, but I couldn't bear to write anymore, it seemed to just end perfectly there. But don't worry, there is more to come... and guess what? I have two whole weeks off work! Which means... I'm going to get HEAPS of writing done. My goal is to FINISH this story during those two weeks. :-D'

..

**Chapter 13: Castles POV**

..

He woke to soft voices across the room. He kept his eyes closed, and stretched his legs slowly under the blankets. He wasn't eavesdropping as such. Well... Okay, he was eavesdropping. But his daughter and Beckett knew he was in the room so they couldn't really blame him.

"I miss Ash a lot, it's weird... I've never really been in a relationship where I felt so strongly for someone. I'm not sure if it's love..." He heard his daughters voice, for once she sounded unsure, and hearing his daughter talk of love made his heart lurch. She was still his little girl, and though he realised she was getting older, and would one day fall in love and leave home... He wasn't ready to think about that yet!

"Love is a strange thing," he heard Beckett muse and he heard her take a sip of whatever she was drinking. He opened his eyes a crack and shifted a little so he could see the girls. They were sitting comfortably on the couch each holding a mug in their hands. "it seems sometimes... that you fall in love with the one you never imagined it would be."

She let out a soft sigh, and he opened his eyes a little more and saw her looking down into her mug as if lost in thought. He was surprised to see a smirk on his daughters face.

"Kind of like my dad huh?"

"Hmm?" Beckett asked distractedly. He wasn't sure whether to let them know he was awake or not at this point, he was interested to hear what Alexis was going to say... But at the same time he wasn't sure he wanted her to say anything at all. What if she ruined the progress he had made in getting Beckett to bring down her walls? Before he could decide, Alexis continued.

"I mean, you falling in love with my dad." He could hear a shy note to his daughters voice. He closed his eyes, he wasn't sure he wanted to see Beckett's shocked expression. Silence enveloped the room, and he peeked at the girls again and saw Beckett again looking contemplative and his daughter looking curiously at the woman beside her.

"I suppose... I don't know how I feel exactly. But I am surprised at the intensity of my feelings for your dad." He heard shyness in Beckett's voice too, and he decided before he overheard anymore and began making assumptions on what Beckett had just said he had better show them he was awake. He stretched again, and yawned loudly. The girls looked towards him, they both looked like they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Good morning daddy," Alexis placed her mug on the coffee table and jumped up. "Do you want a coffee? We're out, but I can grab some from the office?"

"Only if you want honey, I can get it myself." He smiled at her, he had such a kind hearted daughter.

"I'll go, I'm curious to see what the weather is like after seeing those dark clouds in Taupo last night." He turned to Beckett and sat up in bed, he was about to ask her how she was but a loud gasp from the door turned his attention to Alexis. "Come look at this!" She exclaimed and held the door open wide. He felt a rush of icy air, but got creakily out of bed and tried not to think about the fact that he was aging. He followed Beckett and his eyes widened at the sight before them. Snow was falling fast, big fat flakes were floating down to settle on the already snow covered ground.

"It's... magical." Beckett turned to look at him, and he found himself captivated by her beautiful eyes. Without thinking he reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She ducked her head away from his touch and stepped closer to Alexis. He tried to shrug it off, but felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks. He often found himself forgetting that Beckett was not the kind of woman who would be flattered to be touched by Richard Castle. He had to fight to get through her wall, and he was often thrown back over not long after making that long journey into her bubble. It seemed even though they had kissed yesterday she had neatly placed him on the other side of her wall again.

"It's beautiful," his voice came out husky, and he found he heard a tinge of sadness to his own voice. He had hoped that Beckett wouldn't cut him out again, this time he had been sure things had changed.

"I love snow, it can be such a pain at home... But here it's just so beautiful." Alexis sighed noisily, and nodded towards the office. "I'll go get that coffee." He shut the door after his daughter and found Beckett back in her spot on the couch.

"I'm sorry..." She looked up, and her big sad eyes met his. "I..." She gestured to her face vaguely, and he decided she was talking about him getting in her space moments before. "It.." She trailed off again and he smiled at the blush creeping up her neck. "I'm not used to it. It's not that I don't want it, it's just that... I'm a bit..." She trailed off again, and waved her hands helplessly and looked down at the floor.

"Oh my, Detective Beckett, are we at a loss for words?" She looked up, her eyes flashing with an emotion he couldn't figure out.

"This isn't easy for me! It's not a joke to me." He sobered at this, and sat down next to her on the couch. He was dying to reach out and take her hand, but he settled for turning his now serious eyes to hers.

"I know that, Kate." He smiled gently. "I really do." She held his eyes, and seemed to search them for any sign of deceit.

"Okay," her short response surprised him, but then Beckett seemed to surprise him a lot... It was something he liked about her. "Thanks."

She raised her eyes to his and then leaned towards him, his heart began beating rapidly enough that he thought she must be able to hear it. She brushed her lips against his, and then looked up. _More? Is she asking for more?_ He was pretty sure his heart was going to explode with emotion as he leaned to meet her lips once more. He kissed her gently, but seconds later her hands were around the back of his head and he was being pressed closer, and her tongue was pushing hard against his. He nearly smiled, but instead he kissed her harder and he heard her sigh in pleasure instead. He was about to move closer to her, but the door opened and he quickly pulled away.

"Right, so it's FREEZING out there."

He looked over at his daughter carrying a packet of coffee, her hair had snow flakes on it and her nose had gone bright red from the cold.

She threw the coffee at him, and opened the door again. "I'm going to go have a hot shower, see you soon."

She looked over his head and narrowed her eyes suspicously at Beckett. He turned to see what she was looking at and noticed Beckett with her hand over her mouth and a rather dazed expression on his face. He couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face. He had caused this dazed Beckett, he, Richard Castle had made Beckett dazed. The door shut behind Alexis, and Beckett poked him in the ribs.

"Stop smirking," he gave her an innocent look as if to say 'who me?' He then leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers briefly, then stood.

"I'm going to have a shower too." He headed towards his bathroom and stopped halfway. "You know, we could always save on hot water and-"

"-say another word, and you will regret it." He turned away from her, and found he was grinning, again. He had kissed Kate Beckett on more than one ocassion and in just a matter of days!

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14: Becketts POV

Beckett slipped out of his room and back to her own. She used all the self control to keep the silly smile just below the surface from erupting on her face. She for once didn't feel nervous of her actions with Castle, nor was she worried about the future. Her mind was only on the now, and right now her lips tingled from her kiss with Castle - and she felt dizzy with excitement. She smoothed her hair down and dazedly dug through her clothes trying to find something to wear for the day.

..

Her door banged open just as she finished making her bed. She looked up in surprise to see Castle with a grin on his face.

"Darn, you're already dressed." He joked.

"You could have knocked," she frowned.

"Your curtains are open, I knew you wouldn't be getting dressed."

"If you say so," she shrugged and sat on the end of her bed. "So what's the plan for today?"

"I thought we could go and see a movie," Beckett contemplated this, it would be nice to be somewhere cosy and warm today but as she thought her eyes fell on one of the books she'd brought with us and distracted her.

"I think I'll stay back and read, you and Alexis can have father daughter time." She smiled.

"Okay, will you be okay without a car? Do you need anything before we go?"

"Nope, I'm fine." She tried not to notice the disappointment in his face, she could see he was trying to hide it. A lot had happened during their time in New Zealand though and she needed some time to herself. "I'll see you when you get back,"

"I'll bring you some popcorn," he said as he left the room. She sighed as he left and grabbed her book. The room was warm, actually the day had warmed up significantly since that morning when they'd first noticed the snow. The black clouds had disappeared and blue sky had taken over. She slipped on her jacket, knotted her scarf around her neck and headed outside. She sat on the bench seat outside her room and tucked her feet underneath her and began her book. Before she'd finished the first paragraph a quiet meow brought her into the real world. A cat trotted over and leapt neatly next to her on the chair.

"Hey kitty," she said and stroked the cats head. "What are you doing here?" Beckett looked around for an owner but no one was around. "You going to read with me?" The cat purred loudly and climbed onto her lap. Smiling, Beckett picked up her book in one hand and rested her free hand on the cats warm side. It purred louder if possible, and Beckett suddenly felt very contented. The sun was shining, she had the warmth of a little cat on her lap and a good book to read... And she'd kissed Castle, twice.

..

"Ouch," she muttered and slowly opened her eyes, her neck hurt and her back hurt and her brain was too fuzzy to figure out why.

"Kate?" She looked up, squinting slightly.

"Castle?" She sat up. She must have fallen asleep while reading, hence the aching back and neck - with the way she had been lying it was no wonder she was in pain.

"Sorry if I woke you, you didn't look very comfortable..." He held out a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully and groaned slightly as her vertabrae popped.

"I think I need a long hot shower," she said with a sigh. "What happened to the cat?" She looked around and found Alexis sitting on the steps near their rental car, the cat on her lap. She was talking to it softly, a smile on her face.

"He's so cute!" Alexis told her, turning to look over her shoulder. "Where did you find him?"

"He found me," she said with a smile. "He is rather friendly isn't he?" She picked up the book she had been reading which had fallen to the ground at some point. "Did you enjoy your movie?"

"Yes!" Alexis chuckled. "But I don't think dad did much,"

"Twilight," Castle said, not needing to explain. Kate laughed.

"Go Alexis, I'm surprised you even managed to convince him to go!"

"I pulled the daughter card, and he bought it." Alexis grinned.

"I'm going to go shower, what are we going to do for dinner?"

"Fish and chips," Alexis told her. "And since it's fairly warm we thought we'd go sit by the lake to eat."

"Sounds good to me," she looked up at the overcast sky. Even though it was winter, and definitely not sunny - the night wasn't as bitterly cold as it had been. If they dressed warm, dinner on the beach would be enjoyable.

..

She sat on the black sand beach, the fish and chips in front of her. She sucked the oil off her fingers and looked out at the lake - a little choppy with the wind but still stunning. She liked this, how relaxed it was between the three of them. They had eaten their fish and chips with their fingers and shared a big bottle of coke between them. Apparently it was the kiwi way to eat fish and chips, oh and we can't forget the watties tomato sauce! She smiled at the thought.

"What are you smiling about?" Castle's voice brought her back from her thoughts and she turned to him, he was dressed warm as were she and Alexis, but he had taken his beanie off and his hair was messy - she felt the urge to smooth it down but managed to keep her hands to herself... just.

"I was just thinking,"

"About?" He prompted.

"How nice and relaxing it is eating here," Alexis got up and stretched.

"I'm just going to that toilet block back there to wash my hands." She gestured up the path they had taken down to the lake, and Castle told her to hurry. He was obviously feeling protective but it was fast getting dark by the lake, so understandable.

"How is your back and neck?" She rolled her neck experimentally and felt a little stiff, and arched her back slightly checking there too.

"Still a bit sore, but I'll survive."

"I give a wicked massage," she looked over at him, for once he seemed to be serious. Normally that kind of comment would result in a smart comment back on her part, but she actually considered his words.

"I'll let you know how I feel when we go back," he smirked, typical Castle - and she rolled her eyes. But there was still an air of seriousness about the whole situation, and she felt butterflies in her tummy as she imagined his strong hands massaging her back and neck...

**TBC.**

**Authors Note: **Yes, I had terrible writers block. :( It's now Summer here, I can't believe it! Flick me a review if you're still reading this, and still want more. ;-) Hope you all had a brilliant Christmas & New Years! xO


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